


The Long Road

by megastarstrike



Series: Someone I Call Home [3]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Character Development, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-06-20 12:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15534201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megastarstrike/pseuds/megastarstrike
Summary: After surviving their last two years of high school together, Rantarou brings up an idea Kokichi had jokingly pitched to him a year ago, determined to make it a reality. Kokichi, Tsumugi and Miu agree and partake on a seemingly innocent road trip, not realizing that the trip will take them on both a physical journey and a journey that will shatter reality for the four of them forever.-----"No road is long with good company."





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> hello sorry this came out so late (ι´Д｀)ﾉ. this fic, while it doesnt need background knowledge of the previous entries of the series, works better if the previous entries were read beforehand. 
> 
> special thanks to Shinomiya for being an awesome beta for this chapter!

The summer after graduating high school was much duller than Rantarou would’ve thought, especially after spending four years anticipating it. His sisters were usually away at camps or at their friends’ houses, and his mother spent the majority of the day working. He kept himself occupied by taking care of the household, but without the stress of school, it was hard to find something to work towards.

“You get what I mean?” Rantarou asked on a phone call with three others. He stopped running water over the dishes right as Miu spoke up.

“Nope. Unlike you stupid virgins,  _ I’m _ actually working on my inventions.”

Kokichi snorted on the other end, and Rantarou could practically see him shooting his signature dismissive expression at his fingernails. “Mi-chan, last time I went over to your house, you blew up your garage and couldn’t work on anything. I would say I’m not the only dirty liar here.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.”

Rantarou chuckled and lowered the volume on his phone, thankful that everyone else was out of the house. “What are you doing with your time, Kichi-kun?”

“Me?” Kokichi’s voice took on a more sinister tone. “Building up my organization, of course. I’m the supreme leader of it.”

“Yeah, sure. How about you, Tsu-san?”

Tsumugi giggled at Kokichi’s indignant huff. “Just a bunch of cosplays I haven’t gotten to yet. Same old, same old.”

“Tsu-chan, is that just another way of saying you’re plain?” Kokichi asked.

“... Maybe.”

“You know what’s not plain or boring?” Rantarou asked. He paused while waiting for Miu’s slew of curses from stubbing her toe to stop. “Going on a road trip with your friends.”

Silence.

Kokichi was the first to respond. “Nishishi! Great idea, Ran-chan, let’s see how long it takes for Mi-chan to get lost and die in the wilderness.”

“I’ll have you know that you’re the one that’s most likely gonna get lost, you stupid fuck,” Miu shot back, though her hisses of pain hadn’t faded from the stubbed toe. “When I get my foot back, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Guys,” Tsumugi sighed.

“Aren’t you the one who wanted to go on a road trip, Kichi-kun?” Rantarou asked. “In our senior year, you came over to my house and told me you wanted to go on a road trip and tour the country before you take over the world.”

Kokichi paused. “No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“I am not having this argument with you.”

“You don’t even like cars,” Miu said.

Rantarou crossed his arms. “True, but I think you guys will make it bearable.”

“How would we even afford to go?” Tsumugi asked, “We’re all saving money for college, and road trips are expensive.”

A pause.

“Tarou-kun. You are  _ not _ going to pay for all of us.”

“Aw, how’d you know?” Rantarou chuckled.

“I know exactly what you rich normies want, and I’m not gonna let you do it. It’s plainly not fair to you to bear the expenses for all of us.”

“Why not? I want to waste as much of my father’s money as possible before I have to stop asking him for money. Even if you don’t like the idea of blowing through his money, there are ways of cutting costs during road trips.”

“Your father sends you money?”

Rantarou shrugged before remembering the others couldn’t see him. “I mean, he kind of has to. The amount decreases when I leave the household, which is when I go off to college.”

“Oh, revenge?” Kokichi asked. Even through the phone call, Rantarou could see his lips curling up into a devious smirk. “I could get behind that.”

Miu made a noise somewhere between a whimper and a groan. “I know you hate your dipshit father and all, but is it really okay to just use your money—”

“My  _ father’s _ money,” Rantarou corrected.

“—your father’s money like that? I mean, there’s a lot of shit to consider, like the van, gas, hotel fees, shit like that.”

“I know. I’ve gone on road trips before. I was a traveler.”

“... Oh.”

Rantarou furrowed his eyebrows and set his elbows on the kitchen counter. “Are you guys just worried about the cost, or is there something else to it?”

“I’m on board,” Kokichi said, “Let’s waste your dad’s money!”

“You’re just in it for the Panta, aren’t you?”

“Aw, you caught me.”

Tsumugi hummed. “I suppose it’s just the cost that worries me. I would love to go on a road trip with you guys, but… I highly doubt my mother would give me enough money to go on one.”

“Same for me,” Miu said, “Dad sends some money and I’ve worked some odd jobs, but fuck, dude. Road trips are expensive.”

Rantarou paused to think. “Okay, how about this? What if I paid for stuff like the van, hotels, basic stuff like that, and you guys just pay for your own things? Like, if you want to buy lunch, you have to buy your own. Besides, if all else fails, we can just sleep in the car.”

“... Actually, that sounds fine,” Tsumugi said, “But are you sure your family’s okay with it?”

Silence.

“Oh no. Don’t tell me you haven’t asked your family yet.”

“I mean, I brought it up over dinner once, and everyone seemed cool with it,” Rantarou said, chuckling and scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “I’ll ask them again tonight.”

“Anyone wanna make bets how long I’m gone before my dad notices?” Miu joked.

“Does that mean you’re coming along?”

“Well…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Promise not to leave me behind or anything?”

Rantarou choked, taking a moment to compose himself, though he couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice. “Mi-san, we’re not gonna leave you. That’s, like, the last thing we want to do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Really sure?”

“Mi-chan,” Kokichi said, “If we ever leave you behind, I’ll cut my scarf into a smoothie and drink it straight down.”

Rantarou furrowed his eyebrows. “I… I gave you that scarf.”

“... Mi-chan, if we ever leave you behind, I’ll cut my hair into a smoothie and drink it straight down.”

“Better, but I can’t believe you would sacrifice my gift like that.”

“Your gift is meaningless to me.”

Rantarou huffed. Even if he knew Kokichi was joking, he still felt a bit uneasy about something he spent time on being thrown away like that.

“Well… alright, I’ll believe you,” Miu said. Her confidence snapped back. “I’m coming along, so don’t be surprised if the trip’s slowed by people wanting to score with a hot babe like me.”

“More like the roads will clear up faster since nobody wants to see your ugly face,” Kokichi scoffed.

“Bitch, I’ll have you know—”

“Okay, so we’re really going on this road trip,” Tsumugi said, struggling to cut the inevitable argument short.

Rantarou rushed his answer out to keep anyone from wanting to get the last word in. “Yes, we are. I’ll call you guys later to plan everything out, okay?” Once he was met with a round of agreement, he said his goodbyes and hung up. He stared at the pile of dishes in the sink and sighed.

What had he gotten himself into?

 

* * *

 

It would be a lie to say the four of them completely loved and trusted each other. They had only known each other for two years, and with their personalities, trusting didn’t come easily to any of them. But at the same time, they could depend on each other with the safety of knowing that they have each others’ backs. Being able to rely on other people was a glorious feeling.

That being said, it would be a damn miracle if none of them ended up slaughtering Rantarou before their road trip even started.

“I swear to god, Dickmami, we’re fucking good to go,” Miu groaned, watching as Rantarou quadruple-checked their possessions in the trunk.

“We’re renting this van, remember?” Rantarou said, “I have to make sure there’s no dead bodies or anything in here.”

“If there was a fucking dead body, it would be you. It’s ten in the morning. It’s too damn early for your stupid shit.”

Tsumugi redirected her squinted eyes to Miu. “We had to wake up at six when we were in high school.”

“I don’t see how that relates.”

“Whatever, I’m getting in,” Kokichi snorted, climbing into the backseat despite Rantarou’s protests.

Miu climbed into the backseat as well. “If the shitty brat gets to go in, so do I.”

“Who are you calling a shitty brat, you stupid whore?”

“Who are you calling a stupid whore, you shitty brat?”

Even with the limited space in the backseat, the two still somehow found a way to fight. A cooler containing water bottles and snacks was set in between them. Two plastic bags hung off the chairs in front of them for any trash to be collected. The packs of games Kokichi had brought as well as the overload of blankets and pillows Miu took from her house were stuffed into the backseat with them, though it didn’t do much to quell the argument between the two.

Tsumugi settled into the passenger seat with a fabric map laid on her lap and frowned at the two arguing in the backseat. “Hey, both of you, cut it out. We’re not starting this road trip on a negative note like this.”

Her presence seemed to have diverted their attention away from each other, though there was another question on their minds.

Miu pointed at the map. “Hey, Shirofucker, what the hell is that for?”

Tsumugi beamed as she held up the map and a spool of red thread. “I’m going to be recording our progress on this fabric map I made a few days ago.”

“Why not just use paper?” Kokichi asked.

“Have you  _ tried _ sticking a needle through paper without it crumpling?” Tsumugi sighed at their blank faces and handed them two clips containing a blue liquid. “Both of you, grab one and put it on the sidebars of the car. These are supposed to keep the car fresh, according to Tarou-kun.”

Just as she finished her sentence, the trunk of the car closed, and Rantarou climbed into the front seat of the car. He set his hands on the smooth handle of the wheel only to pause. “Wait, were there enough bandages in the first aid kit?”

“You brought a first aid kit?”

“Yeah. You have to be prepared for everything.”

The other three blinked.

It generally wasn’t a good idea to allow four people straight out of high school to go on a road trip across the country alone, but with Rantarou with them, it seemed more like an adult dragging along three children with varying maturity levels with him through hell.

And it really did seem like they were prepared for everything. The gray van they had rented was spacious enough for all of their belongings (partially due to the space itself and partially due to Rantarou’s ability to somehow jam as many items as he could into one space). Items like a first aid kit, bug repellant, and flashlights were stuffed into the back of the trunk. The cooler sitting between Miu and Kokichi was stuffed with water and a variety of both junk food and healthier options Tsumugi had pushed onto them. There was no telling what would happen during their trip, but they liked to think they were prepared.

“Whatever. Here’s the GPS,” Miu said, handing him his phone. “Nice avocado phone case, by the way. It’s even shittier than Tittygane’s weeb case.”

“Great, thanks.” Rantarou snorted as Tsumugi sputtered to defend her choices. He set the phone onto a stand before switching to his playlist. “We’ll be listening to my music since I’m the one that’s driving.”

“I bet all your music is lame Disney songs,” Kokichi snickered.

“Actually, yeah.”

“Seriously?”

“Are you telling me you don’t have Disney songs on your playlist?”

“My playlist is just half classical music and half screaming.”

Miu snatched Kokichi’s phone out of his hand and scrolled through the playlist, turning to the side and hiding behind the cooler to block him from snatching his phone back. “... Wow, he’s not lying.” She tossed it back to him and curled up against the window before Kokichi could throw a half-hearted punch at her. “Anyway, are we gonna get started or what?”

Rantarou powered the car on and stepped on the gas pedal, driving them forward towards a new, unfamiliar horizon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Only those who care about you can hear when you're quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, new year same bitch who doesnt finish anything.
> 
> im going to finish this damn story this year if it kills me.

It was only thirty minutes into the road trip, and two of them were at each others’ throats already.

“Mi-chan! You ate all my chips!” Kokichi accused, pointing an equally accusing finger at her.

Miu wrinkled her nose. “Are you fucking kidding me? I didn’t touch a single one of your salty ass chips! I have to maintain this perfect figure somehow, you know.”

“What perfect figure?”

“What fucking chips?”

All anger and intensity was erased from Kokichi’s voice as a stream of giggles escaped his mouth. “That was a lie, nishishi! I know you didn’t eat any chips.”

Miu groaned and leaned forward, placing her chin on the shoulder of Tsumugi’s chair. “Hey, Mom, can I just throw his ass out the car?”

Tsumugi didn’t look up from the perpetual movement of the red thread through the fabric map, though her eyebrows furrowed. “Why do  _ I _ have to be the mom?”

“Who else would be? Ouma?”

“Nevermind, I accept my role as mother.” She whipped around to them with sparkling eyes, ignoring Rantarou’s complaints of her hair being in his face. “Okay, I was searching something up online before this, and there’s this game where you have to make up a conspiracy about two unrelated things someone else assigns to you. It’s called ‘Think About It’ because at the end, you have to look at us with a serious face and go, ‘Think about it.’”

“That’s the most confusing shit I’ve ever heard.”

“For example, let’s say you give me the topics of bears and napkins. I have to make up a conspiracy including those two things.”

“That doesn’t seem like it can end well,” Rantarou said, his eyes glued to the road. He leaned back in his chair once they hit a red light in an almost satisfied manner. “Just look outside for a moment. Isn’t it crazy how much changed in just one hour?”

He was right. The entire landscape had changed from gray sidewalks and bustling roads to an emptiness none of the four were familiar with. While other cars accompanied them in other lanes and a few plazas and neighborhoods were scattered around the area, it was still uncharted territory.

“What, are you telling me you’re such a normie you’ve never been outside the city for more than an hour?” Tsumugi said.

Rantarou chuckled, the half-hearted insult bouncing off him. “No, no, I’ve definitely been outside the city before. But isn’t it kind of exciting how different your surroundings can be after just one hour? Imagine how different it would be after five or ten hours. It would seem like an entirely different country by then.” He paused and pressed his foot down upon seeing the light turn green. “Sorry, I’m rambling. Back to driving.”

“You sound passionate as fuck about geography,” Miu said.

“Well, I  _ am _ taking a geography major next year. I don’t think I would major in it if I didn’t like it.”

“It wasn’t meant as an insult, dickface.”

“It’s kind of refreshing to see you talk about something you like,” Kokichi said, putting his feet up on the armrest between Rantarou and Tsumugi’s seats. “It was getting a little boring just hearing you talk about something you don’t like.”

“Get your feet off the armrest,” Rantarou said.

“Make me.”

“Get your feet off, Kichi-kun,” Tsumugi sighed.

“Okay, Mom.” Kokichi returned his feet to the ground and slipped his feet back into his shoes, aiming a smug smirk at the rearview mirror he knew Rantarou could see his expression in.

“You know,” Rantarou began, “if Tsu-san’s your mother, then that means I’m your big brother. Isn’t it important to listen to your big brother, too?”

“Nope.”

“Oh.”

“I honestly don’t know what you were expecting from a brat like him,” Miu mumbled.

Tsumugi cut in before Kokichi could start another argument. “So does anyone want to play the game I told you about?”

“Nope.”

“Ah. Alright.”

“How does it feel to be on the receiving end of that shutdown?” Rantarou asked, his lips tugging up into a smirk.

“Shut up, normie.”

“Fine, fine.”

The four continued their journey, reading the passing billboards out loud as their surroundings zipped past them.

 

* * *

 

“Alright, Shirotitty, I think we’re willing to play that stupid fucking game of yours now,” Miu said.

Tsumugi blinked and turned around to her. “Really? You want to play it after two hours?”

“You’ve got anything better to do?”

“... I guess not. So, who wants to go first?”

Kokichi’s hand shot up. “Oh! I will!”

Tsumugi darted her gaze between the other two. “I’m fine with that. Is everyone else okay with Kichi-kun going first?” Upon being given no negative response, she moved on. “Does anyone have any suggestions?”

“Try… Panta and socks,” Rantarou said.

Kokichi paused in thought before breaking into a grin. “Alright. Panta, the superior drink of this world, is meant to be stored in a refrigerator and served cold. Drinking it sends chills throughout your body because of the sheer coldness of it.”

“That makes absolutely no fucking sense,” Miu said.

“Shut up. Anyway, socks are meant to keep your feet warm. That’s why fluffy socks like the stupid ones Mi-chan is wearing right now exist.”

“Hey!”

“So what do you get when some clumsy people drop their Panta all over their feet? Their feet get cold. What do they wear to keep their feet from being cold? Socks. Panta and other cold drinks were invented to sell more socks and support the sock industry. Big Sock, if you will. Why? As you know, sock production has been on the increase lately. The trend of high mass consumption started in the eighteenth century with the Industrial Revolution.”

“Where are you going with this?” Rantarou asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Kokichi shrugged but continued his speech. “If socks are still being produced at this mass rate with the cold beverage industry supporting it, we can only conclude that this is the start of another space race.”

“... I’m sorry, what?”

“The cold beverage industry is huge, which makes Big Sock even bigger. The government is planning to use socks to build a sock rocket to create a new record of how many socks can be sent up to space. They need to achieve that record to get the prize money from various world record recorders around the world. Why? Because so many people avoid doing their taxes the government is going through a money crisis. They can’t fund any of their activities, so they have to scrape up any money they can. One way they’re doing that is by producing Panta to bolster the sock industry and building a sock rocket.” Kokichi’s face went blank. “Think about it.”

“Did… Did you just relate a beverage and article of clothing to space?” Tsumugi asked, holding her head.

“I can’t believe that actually made sense for, like, two seconds,” Rantarou mumbled.

“Game’s over,” Miu said, “Twinkma fucking wins. I don’t think anyone’s ever bullshitted so much before.”

Kokichi snickered and raised his feet to the armrest between Tsumugi and Rantarou’s chairs again. “Weren’t you the one who completely bullshitted everything in language arts?”

“Okay, listen, bitch—”

“Anyway,” Tsumugi said, “There’s only one more hour left before we reach our destination. Promise me you’ll behave in the museum?”

“We’re going to a fucking museum first?” Miu groaned.

“I wouldn’t be reacting like that, Mi-san,” Rantarou said, “It’s a special kind of museum.”

“How can a boring ass museum be special in the fucking slightest?”

“You’ll see.”

Kokichi narrowed his eyes, moving so he was visible in the rear view mirror. “Ran-chan, I don’t like all your secret-keeping.”

“Then you should’ve piped in when Tsu-san and I were planning our route.”

“Hey, supreme leaders are busy.”

Miu snorted and rolled her eyes. “What were you doing, jacking off to kinky porn?”

“Stop projecting, Mi-chan. Anyway—”

“Hey, don’t just fucking ‘anyway’ me, you little bitch!”

“I’ll ‘anyway’ you when I want, you stupid slut!”

“Fuck you!”

“Guys, if you’re going to fight, then at least roll your windows up,” Tsumugi said, her voice heavier than it was before. “I don’t want anyone hearing your conversation while a Disney song plays in the background.” She paused. “Actually, that would be great irony. Keep going.”

Rantarou stopped at another red light, pausing to give Tsumugi a raised eyebrow. “So you’re saying screaming out curses and insults is okay as long as there’s irony or any other storytelling device?”

“Sure. Deal with it, normie.”

“You know what? I’m taking the mom role from you. All of you are irresponsible.”

Tsumugi frowned and pointed a finger forward. “Hey, you can’t just strip me of my mom role like that! I don’t trust a normie like you to take care of these idiots.”

“Excuse you, bitch, who are you calling an idiot?” Miu said, leaning forward.

“Are you saying you’re not?” Kokichi snickered.

“Okay,  _ listen _ —”

The car burst into a round of arguments from all sides, everyone shouting insults at each other while a lyrical ballad played in the background. The music was slowly drowned out by their arguing before a horn honked, making all four of them jump and prompting Rantarou to shut his mouth and drive.

Silence.

Then Tsumugi giggled, triggering the chain of laughter that would erupt into the car exploding into hysterical laughter.

 

* * *

 

Finally, they had arrived at their destination, a large, tall building painted in various shades of white and gray. The building was placed on top of a brick flooring with white stairs leading up to it. Several people were scattered across the benches on top of the brick flooring. Snippets of conversation could be heard drifting in the air, from discussing what they had seen in the museum to a softball game from last night to how old the trees planted around them were.

“Hey, Shittygane, where the fuck are we?” Miu asked, stretching her limbs from the four hours she had spent in the car. 

Tsumugi sighed when the parents around the area glared at them. “Mi-san, I really wish you would be quieter when you say that. Can you just lower the volume of your voice a little bit so we don’t get killed by the parents here?”

Miu rolled her eyes, but her voice dropped anyway. “Whatever. Where’s Amacunt?”

“What? You want your mom with you?”

“Wow, are you  _ still _ bitter over that?” Kokichi asked. “That was an hour ago. I thought you were supposed to be the mature one here, Tsu-chan.”

“Well, you thought wrong.” Tsumugi turned to Miu. “He’s still trying to park the car. He isn’t even back yet. Is that the person you want as your mom?”

“You’re salty today,” Rantarou said, pausing to catch his breath as he slowed to a stop beside them. “Kind of hurts my feelings. What, you don’t want to be my friend anymore?”

Tsumugi frowned, all bitterness being erased from her face and replaced with concern. “No, of course I want to be your friend. Why would you assume otherwise?”

The three stared at her in silence before deciding to move on.

“Anyway, tickets for the Westerwood Museum are five dollars for each adult,” Rantarou said. 

Miu wrinkled her nose. “ _ Adult?  _ Who the hell would consider us adults?”

The smile on Kokichi’s face faded away, only to be replaced with a blank expression. “Oh, right. We’re legally adults now.”

The realization hit them like a boomerang: it had flown right past them in blissful ignorance before coming back at full force and whacking them behind the head. They were legally adults; they could do whatever they wanted. They could eat a full cake in one sitting, rob a bank, spray whipped cream directly into their mouths, break into their old high school—fuck, they graduated high school! They never had to step foot inside it again! Yet here they were, arguing under the blazing sun while one of them made the stupid decision of wearing a scarf and another made an equally stupid decision of wearing a jacket in the hot temperatures.

“We should, uh… We should go inside now,” Rantarou said.

The other three murmured an agreement before stepping inside and paying the admission fee.

The second they stepped in, it was as if they had stepped into another dimension. The interior was colored a still gray with the museum splitting into three directions: two exhibits and a food court. The jazz music playing over the speakers was muted under the soft chatter from the other people in the museum. Most of the space was empty, the benches set up at various intervals remaining untaken.

Kokichi immediately stepped towards the food court, only to be held back by Tsumugi tugging on his scarf.

“You have to be patient, Kichi-kun,” Tsumugi scolded as she released her grip on him. “We’ll go to the food court after we see everything.”

Kokichi pouted, sticking his bottom lip out. “Oh, come on. Stupid Mi-chan over here doesn’t have to wait for her technology museum.”

Miu froze. “Wait,  _ technology  _ museum?”

“Whoops. Didn’t mean to say that out loud.” The smirk on Kokichi’s face told them otherwise. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Miu was already gone, rocketing off in another direction.

“She seems excited,” Rantarou mused, a smile growing on his face. “Should we follow her?”

The other two agreed before following her trail across the museum.

They passed by various inventions and historical figures as they walked. Eventually, they reached Miu, whose face was brighter than the sun as she pointed at a piece of machinery like she was a child in a candy store.

“Come here, you fuckers, look at this!” Miu said, pointing at a compact, gray cube with tiny colorful strings surrounding it. “Do you know what this is?”

“Can’t say I’ve seen it before,” Rantarou said.

“Only revolutionized technology, that’s what.” Miu continued rambling about whatever the cube was, explaining everything from its creator to its use in current technology. She gestured with her hands wherever appropriate as she spoke at a pace that would put even the fastest rapper to shame. A fire shined in her eyes, shimmering and blazing under the warm lights.

A smile made its way to Tsumugi’s face. “You seem really passionate about technology, Mi-san. I’m really glad you feel that strongly about something.”

Miu stopped, her mouth opening and closing as her face burned red. “F-Fuck do you mean by that, you shitty bitch? Of course I like technology. Who doesn’t?”

“A lot of people,” Rantarou said. He beamed. “Happiness really suits you, Mi-san.”

“W-Well, of course it suits me. Everything suits this beautiful genius,” Miu stuttered. She huffed as if her face wasn’t on fire.

Kokichi grinned and reached up to pinch her cheeks. “Aww, is our beloved whore happy in her element?”

“Fuck all of you. You people just like seeing me suffer.”

“Can’t say that’s a lie.”

“Especially you.”

“Thanks.” Kokichi paused before pointing at another exhibit with a long, thin rod. “Hey, Mi-chan, what’s this thing? Is it something a slut like you would use as a dildo?”

The insults flew straight over Miu’s head as she explained the invention, her excitement blazing to new levels.

As soon as she was done explaining, Rantarou stepped forward and pointed at another object. “Oh, Mi-san, do you happen to know what this is? It looks like it might be important.”

“Might be? Bitch, it was the thing that started the Industrial Revolution.” Miu tilted her head and pointed at him. “Shouldn’t you know this? We learned about it in ninth fucking grade.”

“Uh…”

“Nishishi! You played yourself, Ran-chan!” Kokichi snickered.

Tsumugi joined in his laughter while Rantarou tried to defend himself against Miu’s teases. After the laughter died down, Rantarou spoke up again.

“To be fair, that was four years ago. Or is it considered five now?”

Miu whistled. “Damn, that went by fast. How do you think the incoming kiddos feel?”

“Well, my oldest sister is going into high school this year, so…”

“Can we stop with the sappy stuff and move on so we can eat?” Kokichi whined. 

“Oh, shut up,” Miu said. Despite her words, she moved onto the next section of the museum with three others trailing behind her.

 

* * *

 

“I never thought I’d see the day where I ate lunch at four in the afternoon.”

“Time isn’t real.”

Tsumugi gave a weird look to Kokichi, who only shrugged in response.

“I mean, he’s technically right,” Rantarou said, “Time is a human invention. Go ask a cashew what time it is. It sure doesn’t know.”

Miu wrinkled her nose. “Why a fucking cashew? You couldn’t have made it a sexier thing like an eggplant or peach?”

“In what way are eggplants and peaches sexy?” Upon seeing Miu open her mouth to respond, Rantarou cut her off with a sigh. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know. But have you seen a cashew growing on something? It’s weird.”

“Bullshit. Can’t be that fucking weird.”

“You wanna bet on that?”

Before either of them could advance the argument, Tsumugi cut in. “Can we eat quickly so we can get to our motel before midnight? I would rather not be caught outside when it’s that dark.” She paused. “Tarou-kun, you  _ did _ remember to make a reservation for the motel, right?”

“Yeah, I’m not an idiot,” Rantarou scoffed. The smile fell off his face. “But I’m not really sure if the one I booked is… Let’s just say it looks a bit sketchy.”

“Tarou-kun.”

“Okay, listen, that part of the country is pretty rural, okay? It was the only motel around, and the only hotel there was too expensive.”

“I’m kind of disappointed in you.”

“Kind of?” Miu snorted. “You damn look like you’re about to kill him. Chill the fuck out, ‘Mugi.”

“What did you just call me?”

“We should probably stop talking so loudly,” Rantarou said, his eyes darting across the cafeteria of people.

When the others turned around as well, the eyes of other visitors quickly moved away as if they had never been there at all. The lights in the cafeteria were warmer than the ones in the rest of the building. The walls were colored a light orange with a white border, and wooden circle tables were spread out over the room with serving stations lining the walls. Indistinguishable chatter almost covered up the commercials playing in the background as smells of different foods wafted in the air.

“You probably shouldn’t eat spicy food while we’re on a road trip,” Tsumugi said, pointing at the light orange rice on Kokichi’s plate.

“But this is the spiciest food in the world!” Kokichi whined, “It would be a waste to not take the opportunity. Stop being so boring, Tsu-chan.”  
  
Rantarou reached his spoon forward and took half a spoon of Kokichi’s food. “This is kimchi fried rice. It’s not that spicy.”

“Hey, stop stealing my food!”

Miu stabbed through a small slice of kimchi with her fork, picking up a few grains of rice with it, and brought it to her mouth. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Looks like Cuckmami’s right. Shittygane’s just a pussy.”

“H-Hey, I can handle spicy food,” Tsumugi said, “I eat spicy food on a regular basis.”

“From what, weeb food?”

Tsumugi ignored the accurate guess to take half a spoon of rice from Kokichi’s plate and stuff it in her mouth. Immediately, she brought her napkin to her mouth and coughed, waving her hand for a drink.

Kokichi handed her a can of Panta he had opened a few minutes before, his face betraying nothing.

Tsumugi took a swig of the drink before coughing into her napkin again. “Kichi-kun! Did you just give me a carbonated drink when my mouth is on fire?”

“Your fault for stealing all my food.”

“Fucking brutal,” Miu said. She went to grab her cup of milk, only for Tsumugi to snatch it away from her. “Really, Tittygane? You couldn’t even ask?”

A few moments of wheezing and coughing later, the spiciness had disappeared from Tsumugi’s mouth. She gave a grim nod to Miu. “Sorry about your milk. I’m not so sorry about your Panta.”

“You’re so bland you eat bland foods, too,” Kokichi spat.

“Ouch. Are you that upset I ate your food?”

“Not really. But did you see the look on your face?”

Rantarou shook his head and twirled spaghetti noodles around his fork. “I never expected Tsu-san out of all of us to not be able to handle spicy foods. I expected better from you.”

“I don’t need judgement from a normie,” Tsumugi snapped. 

“I don’t think anyone needs judgement from the fucker that eats pancakes for lunch,” Miu said.

“Time isn’t real.”

Kokichi clapped his hands together. “Glad you see it my way, Tsu-chan. But everyone’s done, right?”

Miu stuffed the last of her garlic bread in her mouth before giving him a thumbs up.

“Gross. Anyway, we should probably get going if we want to get to the motel on time.”

“Man, I can’t believe fucking Twinkma over here’s being responsible for once,” Miu laughed, standing up from her seat and emptying her tray into a nearby trash can. “You know something’s gone horribly wrong when the shitty bitch of the friend group needs to take over.”

“Shut up, Roomba-chan.”

“Fuck you."

Tsumugi and Rantarou tuned out their following argument as they emptied their own trays into a trash can. They sent apologetic smiles to the people around them before dragging Kokichi and Miu out of the museum.

 

* * *

 

It was two hours into the road when they noticed it was quiet. Too quiet.

Tsumugi furrowed her eyebrows and turned around. “Hey, Mi-san, are you alright? You haven’t been talking for a while.”

Miu shrugged, gesturing over to the body next to her. “I mean, the little brat hasn’t been talking either, so…”

True to her word, Kokichi hadn’t been speaking for the past hour. Instead, he was curled up next to the window, separating his head from the glass with a white pillow. It was the most relaxed any of the three had ever seen him.

“Not everything you say is an insult to him,” Rantarou said, his eyes glued to the road. “What’s on your mind?”

Miu paused before reluctantly tearing her gaze away from the window. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Really sure?”

“Yes.”

“W-Well…” Miu looked away, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “So you know how in that museum, most inventions were credited to some guy, right? Some of them weren’t famous until after their death, but a lot of them got the credit they deserved in the century they were in.”

“Where are you going with this?” Tsumugi asked.

Miu took a deep breath. “What if—What if I never get that? What if I never get credit for my work?”

“There’s some people out there being unpleasant and stealing credit, but that’s difficult to do in modern times. Credit is so valued that even fanfiction websites try to catch plagiarizers.”

“Yeah, but I’m not talking about those assholes. I’m talking about, like…” She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, her voice dropping. “You think I can make it in life? Can I make it to those museums and have my name remembered through history? I want the whole world to know Miu Iruma was here, but I’m not sure if…”

“If you can make it?” Rantarou finished.

Miu nodded.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you work harder than any other person I’ve ever met. I’m sure luck is on your side.”

“Maybe, but my dad always said the majority of inventors would be like starving artists. What if—”

“Your dad can go—”

“Tarou-kun, mind your anger,” Tsumugi murmured, tapping on his white knuckles.

Rantarou relaxed his posture and loosened his grip on the steering wheel. He aimed a weak smile at the rear view mirror. “Sorry. But I think you should trust us more than you trust your dad. I know it’s not always easy to do, but… I really hope you can trust me when I say we’re here for you.”

“Even… Even if I end up being a failure?” Miu asked.

“Jeez, you guys are downers,” Kokichi mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. “And here I thought we were actually gonna have fun on this trip.”

“Well, fuck you too.”

Kokichi yawned. “But really, Mi-chan, you’re fine. You’re only eighteen. I don’t know who made up this rumor you have to be successful by twenty, but fuck them. You’re doing fine.”

Tsumugi nodded and sewed another hole through the fabric map. “I agree. It’s plain to see you’re achieving success in your own way.”

Miu stayed silent as they pulled into the driveway of a gas station, staring down at her lap. “T-Thanks. All of you.”

“You’re welcome, our beloved dumbass.” Kokichi ignored her indignant squawks to pull out his wallet. “I’m buying something from the gas station. Does anyone want anything?”

Tsumugi furrowed her eyebrows. “You’d better not be buying dinner in that station.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Kokichi said. He flashed her a smile before exiting the car with Rantarou, who had taken his own wallet to pay for the gas.

A few minutes later, Kokichi returned to the car with a huge box in his hands. He addressed Tsumugi’s glare with a peace sign. “Nishishi! You should’ve known better than to trust a liar.”

Tsumugi sighed. “I guess I really should have. What’s in the box?”

“Creamed lobster and crab cakes.”

“It’s pizza,” Miu said, opening the box. She grabbed a slice and bit into the tip.

Kokichi’s smile disappeared. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Really? Everyone’s just going to steal my food again? I bought this for myself, not you.”

“You weren’t planning on eating all that for yourself. There’s no way you could fit all that into your tiny ass stomach.”

“I can’t believe Mi-chan is the one that called me out on my lie. Your lie detection game is getting weak, Tsu-chan.”

“In my defense,” Tsumugi said. She paused to pick up a slice of pizza from the box. “I knew you weren’t asleep. I just didn’t want to call you out.”

Kokichi snickered before taking a bite of his own pizza slice. “Nishishi! Nice lie, Tsu-chan, but didn’t you remember I’m the ultimate lie detector, too?

“I’m so tired.”

“Mood,” Rantarou said as he climbed into the car. “Remember to save me a slice, too.”

“Too late, we already ate all of it,” Kokichi said.

Miu pulled the box open again. “Bullshit, there’s still half left. Your lie game is getting weak, not Shittygane’s lie detection game.”

“Well, if my lie game is getting weaker and Tsu-chan still couldn’t detect it, wouldn’t that mean Tsu-chan’s just getting worse at detecting lies?”

“I’m only getting worse because you’re telling the truth more,” Tsumugi said, “I’m proud of you.”

“Disgusting. Keep that sappy slander to yourself.”

“It’s another four hours until we get to the motel,” Rantarou said, clicking his seatbelt and setting his hands on the steering wheel.

Tsumugi raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you can keep driving? There’s three of us here.”

“You would really trust Kichi-kun or Mi-san with the steering wheel?”

Both of the mentioned people immediately jumped to defend themselves, one’s defense being to cry and accuse Rantarou of abandoning them as friends and the other’s defense consisting of mainly curse words.

Tsumugi picked up her sewing needle and pulled it through the fabric of the map. 

It was going to be a long four hours.

 

* * *

 

Tsumugi’s voice came out even and calm, but an obvious hint of frustration and panic was present underneath it. “Rantarou Amami, do you know how sketchy this motel looks?”

Rantarou shrugged and gave her a weak smile. “Uh… I promise I’ve been to worse.”

The sky had already darkened to a dark blue sky with an orange tint. The motel’s flickering neon lights announcing its name along with a chipped dark red paint was the motel’s only decoration. A wolf’s howl could be heard in the distance. The road progressively became more and more cracked as they neared the motel.

Rantarou parked on the very edges of the lot and unclicked his seatbelt. “Well, who’s going in with me?”

Silence.

“Really? Not even you, Kichi-kun?”

“I’d rather let you be butchered alone.” Kokichi gave him a toothy grin and waved. “Bye-bye, Ran-chan! It was nice knowing you!”

“Yup. Get the fuck out, avocado ass,” Miu said.

“Avocados aren’t even my favorite food,” Rantarou mumbled as he exited the car. He walked towards the motel before his figure disappeared into a room.

The three were silent before Tsumugi spoke up. “Did we just send our friend to his death?”

Kokichi shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“And you’re completely fine with it?”

“You don’t seem to be freaking out either.”

“I think he can handle it,” Miu said, “He said he’s been through worse, right? And he can text us if he needs saving or some shit.”

The other two murmured in agreement before they returned to their previous activities.

 

* * *

 

Saying the motel room was sketchy would be a massive understatement. A bed with a white blanket on top of it was pushed to the corner of the white, chipped walls. A window was placed on the wall opposite of the barely functional door with a ripped, red curtain framing it. The neon colors of the motel could be seen outside it even through the smudges. The gray, shaggy carpet felt rough underneath their shoes, and they were hesitant to take their shoes or socks off. A room breaking off from the living room was a small kitchen with just a refrigerator, stove, sink, and a few countertops. Another room broke off into the bathroom. However, the bookcase and drawer next to the bed were in good condition, promotional materials and books filling them.

“Hey, Dickmami, why’s there only one bed?” Miu asked, “You planning on having an orgy in here or something?”

Rantarou plugged his phone into an outlet on the wall. “No, believe it or not. The motel owner said somebody else came through with a huge group, so they had to take our room. I don’t understand why he would do that it we already reserved the room, but hey, with sketchiness comes absolute douchebaggery.”

“I’ll take the bed. You three can be my peasants,” Kokichi said.

Tsumugi ignored him as she plugged in her own phone. “As irresponsible as he was, I think Tarou-kun should take it since he drove today.”

“And had to deal with your bullshit,” Miu said. She dumped her pillows and blankets on the floor. “Anyway, I brought enough shit for all of us. Just take what you want.”

“Aw, you’re so generous today, Mi-chan!” Kokichi cooed, grabbing a pillow off the floor. “Kind of makes me wonder if you stuck needles in these pillows or something.”

“You really think I’m gonna waste money on needles just so I can prick you in your sleep? That’s just inefficient. If I was gonna do that, I would have invented something that would make it easier.” She huffed and flattened her blanket on the floor. “Kinda hurts you don’t trust me.”

“I trust you. I sure don’t trust your brain, if you even have one.”

“You little—”

“If you’re going to argue, do it quietly,” Tsumugi said.

Miu stopped before mouthing her insults at a rate no one could understand. Still, Kokichi gasped and mouthed an insult back at her.

Rantarou chuckled as he picked up the blanket on the bed. “You two are actual childr—Ah!” He hurled the blanket as far as he could, throwing it on top of Miu’s head.

Miu glared at him as she freed her head from the blanket. “What the hell, dickface? I—” She cut herself off with a scream upon examining the blanket and tossed it at Tsumugi.

“Really? I don’t get what’s so bad about a blank—” Tsumugi’s face paled, and she threw it in another direction.

Finally, Kokichi caught the blanket and wrinkled his nose at the red spot in the white blanket. “Is this blood? You’re all freaking out at some blood?”

“Well, sorry all of us don’t want to be near something as suspicious as a bloodstain,” Tsumugi spat, her nails clawing at the wall.

“I’m used to bloodstains. I have to be around my secret organization, after all.”

“Fuck you and fuck your stupid ass lie,” Miu said, “I’m not touching that shit.”

“It’s not even your blanket,” Rantarou said. He picked up a brochure off the drawer and flipped through it. “Extra blankets are fifty dollars. I guess I’ll just die.”

Kokichi raised an eyebrow. “Or you could just swap blankets with me.”

“Really? You want a blanket with a bloodstain?”

“Better than sleeping with a blanket from Mi-chan’s house. Who knows where it’s been?”

“H-Hey!” Miu squawked, but the two had already exchanged blankets.

Rantarou let out a sigh of relief and climbed on the bed. “Thanks, Kichi-kun. The motel rooms are way too cold, even in the summer.”

Kokichi shrugged and lied down on the floor, setting his head on the pillow and moving his legs to avoid all contact with the bloodstain. 

“Should… Should we make a complaint about it in the morning?” Tsumugi asked.

“No one’s gonna care anyway. Just go to sleep.”

Tsumugi gave him a dubious look but brought the blanket over herself anyway. It was only when everyone had settled into their positions when she spoke again. “So who’s going to turn off the lights?” She sighed when no one responded and stood up to turn it off. She returned to her makeshift bed and set her glasses to the side before drifting to sleep with the steady breaths of three others around her.

 

* * *

 

Miu couldn’t sleep. That was a fact of life for her, and she knew she couldn’t change it on a road trip. She would usually kill time by working on her inventions, but there was no way to work when she was on the road and didn’t have access to her materials. (It wasn’t like she could bring herself to work anyway, especially after that trip to the museum.)

She picked up her phone and squinted at the bright screen. 2:32 AM. They had arrived at the motel at 10 PM. She sighed and set it back down, redirecting her attention to the others around her.

Rantarou’s figure stayed still on the bed, his face up and arms by his side. His chest rose and fell with the pink blanket as he breathed. The tip of his toes poked out from the blanket. Judging by the lack of wrinkles in the blanket, he had only gone to sleep recently.

Tsumugi, who laid to the right of her, was in a messier state, her hair tangled and half the blanket tossed off her. Her face was pushed into the pillow, and her limbs were sprawled over the floor. Miu would have expected her to be the neatest sleeper, but she supposed she guessed wrong.

Kokichi laid to the left of Miu, curled up in the fetal position and hands on the blanket next to his face. The bloodstain on the blanket was kicked as far away from him as possible, and Miu got the feeling he had been lying about being used to blood. His lips were curled into a smile and his breath steady.

Miu rolled her eyes and spoke, her voice low and raspy. “Nice try, dumbass, but no one smiles when they sleep.”

Kokichi feigned sleep for a few more seconds before whining and shifting under the blanket. “Only weird people watch other people sleep. You’re a creep, Mi-chan.”

“Whatever. Why’re you still up?”

“Why are  _ you _ still up?”

The two stared at each other, neither side willing to concede, before Miu sighed and explained. “I just don’t like wasting time sleeping. I wish I brought my blueprints so I could work on those, but… How about you?”

“Obviously to watch all of you in your most vulnerable states to look for weaknesses to expose later.”

“Didn’t you have your eyes closed? How the hell would you look for weaknesses if you can’t even look at your dick?”

“Nishishi, another lie,” Kokichi said, though his laughter was more subdued than it would have been. “This motel’s sketchy. If someone walks in, I can just scream loud enough for everyone to wake up.” He paused. “You were telling the truth, but that’s not the complete truth, is it?”

Miu scoffed. “What does it matter? You’re the one paranoid enough to keep watch when no one asked you to.”

“It matters.” Kokichi sat up and lied his back against the wall. “You’re lying by omission. I don’t like liars, Mi-chan.”

Miu paused before sighing and sitting up as well. “Remember when you guys said all that stuff to me after our stop at the museum? Did—Did you mean it?”

“Nope, I wasted my breath and woke up for nothing.”

“... Really?”

“No, you stupid bitch, I meant everything I said,” Kokichi sighed, wrapping his hair around a finger. “I don’t just say sappy stuff to people for no reason. Even if I’m a liar, you should know that about me.”

Miu hesitated, her hand clenching around the fistful of blanket she had grabbed. “Are you sure?”

Even in the darkness, Miu could see Kokichi fixing his gaze on her. “Mi-chan, I’m going to be honest with you for a little bit. Your dad has a point that it’s statistically not likely you’ll be famous. The probability of being known throughout history is tiny, but I think the probability’s slightly higher for you. Call me biased, but I really do think that.”

“Gee, thanks. Way to make me feel nice about myself.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel good about yourself, I’m trying to give you the facts. And that fact is…” He took a deep breath and shut his eyes as if he had to push the words out of his mouth. “Even if you don’t make a difference in the world, you make one in mine. I don’t know about you, but I like having you in my world. It’s nice having someone so easy to insult around.”

“Fuck you too, shitty brat."

“Right back at you, bitchy whore.”

“But you know…” Miu held her hand out, palms facing up. “I kind of wish you could just trust me a bit more with your feelings. I’m not one of those assholes that’ll take advantage of that. I thought you would’ve learned that by now.”

Kokichi gave her a grim smile. “Well, I guess I didn’t. Liars never learn, Mi-chan.”

“But they can. Jeez, what the fuck would Shirotitty say? Something about lying not being your only character trait?”

“Who cares? Liars are still liars.”

“And that liar is my friend. So?” Miu wiggled her fingers.

Kokichi wrinkled his nose at the movement. “God, that’s creepy. I bet your hands are disgusting, too. I don’t know where you’ve been.”

“I’ll have you know I haven’t masturbated in two days.”

“That’s an achievement?”

“I’m too tired for your bullshit right now,” Miu grumbled, retracting her hand. She lied back down on the blanket. “I’m gonna try going the fuck to sleep.”

“Good luck with that, asshole,” Kokichi said. Despite his words, he lied back down on the ground as well, shutting his eyes. A few minutes passed before a smile reappeared on his face.

Miu almost rolled her eyes. “I told you, dickhead, nobody smiles in their sleep.”

This time, there was no response.

 

* * *

 

Tsumugi woke up to the sound of plastic wrinkling and something burning in the kitchen. She sat up and put her glasses on, catching a familiar sight of green in the kitchen. “Are you messing up the kitchen, Tarou-kun?”

A warm laugh came from the kitchen. “Not exactly. Wash up and come see what I’m doing.”

Tsumugi changed into a new set of clothes and washed up before walking back out, her hair tied up into a ponytail at the risk of burning it. She blinked at the loaf of bread and egg carton set on the counter. “You brought bread and eggs with us?”

“No, I just woke up a bit early and drove to the convenience store a mile away,” Rantarou said, cracking another egg into the pan. He was already dressed in a new set of clothes and didn’t appear sleepy. It was clear he had been awake for a few hours.

“Why didn’t you wake any of us up?”

“I’m pretty sure Kichi-kun woke up by my footsteps. He’s a pretty light sleeper. Kind of makes me wonder…”

“Wonder what?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rantarou smiled and tossed the egg shell into the trash can.

Tsumugi grabbed four paper plates and set them on the counter with a frown. “You don’t have to do everything by yourself, you know. People usually get their character development with other people around.”

“I’m not a character, Tsu-san.”

“Maybe, but characters are structured after people.”

Rantarou smiled as he flipped the eggs over with a spatula. “I’m glad you’re getting a healthier view on the world.”

Tsumugi only nodded, deep in thought. She put a slice of bread onto each plate. “Say, Tarou-kun, were you a lonely kid growing up?”

“What gives you that idea?”

“I remember you told us about how you used to travel a lot to track down your dad. A lot of characters who move around don’t have time to form meaningful relationships with other people around them. Is it safe to say you went through the same thing?”

Rantarou fell silent, staring down at the eggs, before forcing another smile on his face. “It’s okay, I can take care of myself, I never really needed… anyone else there for me anyway. Never did, never will.”

“But isn’t it so much better with someone else’s help?” Tsumugi paused to collect her thoughts. “Back in our senior year, I remember calling Mi-san over to build a pillow fort with me since I couldn’t do it myself.”

“... You couldn’t make a pillow fort by yourself?”

“Shut up, normie. Anyway, I probably wouldn’t have ended up with a very good pillow fort if I hadn’t called her, and I’m glad I wasn’t stubborn enough to keep at it. I know I’m not the best person to go to for advice, but—”

“You always say stuff like that.”

Tsumugi stopped, an eyebrow raised, allowing Rantarou to continue.

“Back in high school, you would always say stuff about how you were boring and plain and unpleasant stuff like that. You don’t say those exact words now, but you always put yourself down before you give your opinion. Is it too much to ask you to not do that?”

“Well, I have to be truthful.”

“You’re friends with a self-proclaimed liar.”

“Kichi-kun is different.”

“In what way?”

Tsumugi fell silent. 

“Sorry for suddenly springing that up on you, but… it made me worry a little,” Rantarou said, setting an egg on each slice of bread. “I hope you’ll at least consider what I said.”

She nodded numbly. “Should I call the others?”

“I think one of them is already awake.” Rantarou turned the stove off and looked up, raising his voice to something bordering a shout. “You suck at pretending to be asleep, Kichi-kun!”

Kokichi’s groans came from the other room, though the words he shouted back were muted by the blanket he had undoubtedly covered himself with.

Tsumugi left the kitchen and stepped into the bedroom, where Kokichi lied on the ground with his pillow over his head and Miu was still fast asleep, snoring. “Both of you, get up.”

“Who are you, my mom?” Kokichi grumbled as he sat up. His hands reached up to brush the tangles out of his hair. He kicked the sleeping figure next to him. “Hey, Mi-chan, wake up. We don’t wanna hear your disgusting snores.”

“The first thing you say to her in the morning is an insult?”

“To be fair, Ran-chan did the exact same thing to me.”

“At least I didn’t step on you,” Rantarou called as he walked under the doorway. He chuckled upon seeing Miu still asleep. “Looks like Mi-san is a heavy sleeper. Should we just let her sleep?”

Kokichi stood up and walked to the bathroom, running the tap water. A moment later, he emerged with a dark white towel in his hands and tossed it on top of Miu.

A few seconds passed before Miu screeched and grabbed the wet towel off her, flinging it in another direction. “Who the fuck? Why the fuck? How the fuck? Where the fuck?”

“Atta girl, Mi-chan!” Kokichi cheered, “You just need the ‘When the fuck?’ to get the full set of fucks given!”

Miu sat up, her eyes glazed over as she took in her surroundings, before snapping to her senses. “Ouma, I’m gonna fucking kill you!” She jumped to her feet and swiped the wet towel off the floor.

Kokichi ran into the bathroom and locked the door, though his laughter was still audible through the door. “Nishishi! Your fault for being such a heavy sleeper. Be a light sleeper like me, and you won’t get treated that way.”

“Bullshit, you would put an alarm clock right in front of my face and set it to max volume.”

“How’d you know my next plan?”

The two argued back and forth through the door, the wet towel left forgotten on the floor and soaking the carpet.

Tsumugi picked up the wet towel with a sigh. “It’s too early in the morning for your pettiness right now. Can we just eat breakfast and go?”

With the promise of breakfast, Miu abandoned her post by the door, and Kokichi slipped out of the bathroom, the two entering the kitchen with insults still being traded by them. Nevertheless, Tsumugi and Rantarou trailed behind them.

“The motel’s so shitty they couldn’t even give us fucking chairs?” Miu snorted, taking a bite out of the bread.

Kokichi wrinkled his nose at the egg. “Ran-chan, did you bring eggs along with you in the car? When did you—”

“No, I bought them a few hours earlier,” Rantarou said, “The nearest convenience store is only a few miles away.”

“‘Only?’”

“Yeah. Like I said, it’s a rural area.”

Kokichi raised an eyebrow as if he wanted to argue its validity but decided to drop it in favor of asking, “Who’s driving today?”

“I am,” Tsumugi said, raising a pinky. 

Miu’s face paled, and her eyes went wide. “Wait, you are?”  
  
Tsumugi confirmed with a nod.

“Who the hell thought Shittygane could drive? She can’t even fucking parallel park.”

“Okay, listen, that was a year ago.”

“Quit your fucking bullshit, it was several months ago. There’s a huge difference, you know.”

“When did Mi-chan become so educated?” Kokichi snickered, “I would say something hit her in the head, but we all know there’s nothing in there.”

“I’m getting fucking bullied. Help me out here, avocado bitch.”

Rantarou ignored her pleas for help, instead choosing to finish off the rest of his bread while he scrolled through his phone and sent back texts to his family.

“Top ten anime betrayals,” Tsumugi said.

Kokichi shook his head. “No, that’s gotta be, like, the top betrayal. Never knew you had it in you, Ran-chan.”

The only indication Rantarou gave that he heard them was the ends of his lips twitching up into a smirk.

Miu whined as she shoved the last of the bread into her mouth and talked around it. “You guys are all assholes. Every single one of you. I hope you know that, you sad little bitches. Anyway, are we done yet?”

The only person with their breakfast remaining was Tsumugi, who had half her bread left to eat. She raised an eyebrow at their stares. “What? I’m a slow eater.”

“If you don’t finish that right now, I’m gonna take it and deepthroat it.”

That was motivation enough for Tsumugi to stuff the rest of it her breakfast into her mouth and swallow. She grimaced at the feeling of it sliding down her throat. “Did you really have to rush me?”

“Yeah. Come on, let’s pack up so we can get out of this shitty motel. I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of not feeling the whole murder vibe this place has going on.”

“I do,” Kokichi said, a wide grin split on his face. “I just can’t wait to be found decapitated in a frozen dumpster. It’s been on my bucket list forever.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“More importantly, why a frozen dumpster?” Rantarou asked. “We’re only staying here for a couple more hours tops, and it’s the middle of summer. The dumpster would be melting, not frozen.”

“ _ That’s _ what’s got your panties in a twist?”

“It’s a flaw in his logic. I had to point it out.”

“You really didn’t.”

“Anyway,” Tsumugi interjected, “You two should probably go and wash up now. Did you not do it before?”

Kokichi shrugged. “I washed up after Rantarou left. I’m surprised none of you woke up.”

“But you went back to sleep right after.”

“Who says I was sleeping?”

Miu rolled her eyes and tossed her paper plate into the trash can. “Whatever, I’ll use the bathroom.”

“Then you have to clean up after yourself in there,” Kokichi said, “You think your slutty ass can handle being responsible for more than two seconds?” After earning a shaky nod from her, he smiled. “Great! Ran-chan, you can clean up the kitchen since you were the one who made the mess in there. Tsu-chan and I will clean up the mess the smelly bitch left behind.”

Miu snorted. “Who died and made  _ you _ leader?”

“You if you don’t hurry up.”

“Great comeback, edgelord.” She paused. “Hehe. Comeback.”

“Hurry up!”

“Okay, okay!” Miu grabbed her things from her bag and walked into the bathroom, locking the door with a click.

The other three threw their plates in the trash can and moved to their assigned positions.

Soon, the entirety of the motel room was cleaned. No trace of their presence except the gathering trash in the garbage can of the kitchen was left behind when they left the motel and stuffed all their belongings into the car. 

Rantarou climbed in the car after returning the key to the owner and joined Miu in the backseat. He coughed and offered the rearview mirror an awkward smile. “So, let’s agree to never go to a motel that sketchy ever again.”

Three pairs of eyes glared at him as the car engine revved up again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I couldn't forget you if I tried."

“If we don’t die by the end of this trip, it’s gonna be a major fucking surprise!” Miu screeched as the wind whipped past their car and she struggled to roll the window up, her hair flying back into a tangled mess. “What fucking speed are you going at?”

Tsumugi hummed as she glanced at the speedometer. “Only a hundred-twenty miles per hour.”

“A hundred-twenty?”

Rantarou pushed himself up for his frown to be visible in the rearview mirror. “Tsu-san, no offense, but that’s way too fast.”

“Oh, shut up, normies, you just can’t handle efficient speeds,” Tsumugi said, “Isn’t that right, Kichi-kun?”

Kokichi didn’t speak, his back planted onto the seat as he stared ahead with wide eyes. His hands grabbed onto the armrests so hard his knuckles turned white.

“... Okay, maybe this is a bit too fast.”

“Who the hell thought it was a good idea to let this bitch have the steering wheel?” Miu screeched.

Rantarou shook his head and shrugged. “Tsu-san, for all that is good and holy, please pull over, I’m begging you.”

“Kinky.”

“Not the time!”

The nightmare ride continued for a few minutes before Tsumugi pulled into an empty parking lot. She leaned back and crossed her arms, her lips tugged down into a frown. “There. Happy now?”

The other three struggled to catch their breaths, each holding a hand to their heart and gasping for air.

Once the adrenaline died down, Rantarou was the first to speak. “Okay, it’s Kichi-kun’s turn to drive now. He can’t be any worse than that.”

“You… must really believe in me… to have that much faith,” Kokichi teased through his desperate gasps for air. Even in his panicked state, he managed to flash him a grin.

“I’m not a bad driver, you guys are just mean,” Tsumugi said with a pout. Still, she exited the car and entered the backseat as Kokichi moved to the driver’s seat and Miu moved to the passenger’s seat. She shot everyone a dirty look. “There’s nothing wrong with the way I drive. It’s how I’ve always drived. Remember, Mi-san?”

“I don’t fucking want to remember,” Miu mumbled, clicking the seatbelt on.

Before Tsumugi could make another terrible defense, Kokichi snickered and powered the car on. “Be careful, nishishi! I’m just as much of a speed demon as Tsu-chan, so hold onto your seats!”

His lie was exposed as soon as they tried to turn into the lane. Kokichi ducked his head, darting his gaze back and forth between the passing cars and reluctantly stepping on the gas pedal.

Miu’s eyebrows wrinkled. “For fuck’s sake, cuck, just fucking go! You could’ve gone after that red car passed by!”

“No, that would have resulted in a major accident and all of us being killed. Like I said, I don’t want to be found decapitated in a frozen dumpster.” Kokichi merged into the lane after a white car passed and no other cars were on the road. “See? That’s how you practice road safety.”

“Maybe it’s a little too careful,” Rantarou mumbled.

Tsumugi groaned and glared into the rear view mirror. “Kichi-kun, I just want to let you know you’re the most boring driver I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Most boring driver doesn’t translate to most boring person,” Kokichi said, “Just because we’re going negative two miles per hour doesn’t mean it’s boring.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it’s not. Don’t you remember all those videos in health saying safety is cool?”

“That applied to drugs and alcohol, not driving.”

“Oh, shit,” Miu said, her lips curling up into a smirk. “We’re legally old enough to drink now.”

Kokichi rolled his eyes as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Ah, yes, let’s drink and drive, that’s a wonderful idea. Totally won’t end up with one of us in a hospital.”

“I wasn’t suggesting drinking and driving, asshole. I’m just saying we’re eighteen now. We’re legally allowed to drink.”

“There’s a lot of drinking at the festival we’re going to after our next destination,” Rantarou mused, “Maybe you can try some real wine there.”

The expression on Kokichi’s face didn’t change, but the color of his knuckles did. “Yeah, nishishi! It’ll be soooo much fun!”

Tsumugi stared into the rearview mirror before patting him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. If any of us end up drinking at that festival, I’ll stay sober with you.”

“... Thanks.”

“That’s still quite a way ahead, so for now…” Rantarou dug out a pack of cards from between the seat cushions and held it up. “Who wants to see me beat Mi-san in a game of War?”

“The one time I’m driving, and I don’t get to see Mi-chan lose,” Kokichi whined.

“H-Hey, who says I’m gonna lose?” Miu asked. She snatched the deck of cards out of Rantarou’s hand. “I’ll shuffle, avocado bitch. Let’s see who’s the real loser.”

Tsumugi watched Miu continue to trash talk her opponent while Rantarou laughed along before realizing maybe it was best to look away before the explosion hit.

 

* * *

 

 

“Fuck you, fuck this game, fuck my life, I fucking quit.”

Tsumugi finally looked back, only to see an explosion of cards on the cup holder separating the backseat from the passenger seat. Miu still had over half the deck left in her hand while Rantarou had shed all his cards over the course of the twenty-minute game. Somewhere in the middle of the game, Miu had unclicked her seatbelt to fully turn back to Rantarou, to which she received a nasty glare from Kokichi, and she sheepishly clicked it back on. And sometime in that mess, Tsumugi had lost her final bit of faith in humanity.

Rantarou laughed as he gathered the cards back up. “Are you sure you don’t want to play again, Mi-san? You were pretty good when you first started.”

“Fuck you, cunthead, I don’t need your stupid pity points.”

“Ooh, cunthead,” Kokichi laughed, “That’s a new one.”

“I would hardly think so, you bag of dildos.”

“That’s you, my beloved Roomba-chan.”

“Did you just call me a roomba?”

“Did you just respond to that name?”

Miu groaned and buried her head in her hands as Kokichi snickered. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the chair. “Anyway, I’m never playing card games with Cuckmami ever again. Take that, you little bitch.”

Rantarou hummed as he shuffled the deck and split the stack in half. “Another round, Mi-san?”

“... Sure.”

 

* * *

 

 

One of them was not going to survive this road trip, and that person was most likely going to be Kokichi.

“Twinkma, you little bitch, why the hell do you keep stopping at every gas station?” Miu asked as they stopped for the third gas station in two hours.

“Why the hell not?” was Kokichi’s weakest reply yet.

“I mean, I guess there’s not really a reason besides it being completely unnecessary,” Tsumugi said, “You really should have just let me drive.”

“And die? No thanks.”

Rantarou pulled out his phone and raised his arm for a picture as the three began to argue back and forth, sipping on a smoothie he had bought at a gas station just half an hour prior.

 

* * *

 

 

Finally, after all their arguments and conflicts, they had made it to their destination with everything still intact.

“Ew, we actually have to be outside for once?” Kokichi said, wrinkling his nose. “Why’re we at the park of all places? That’s just so boring.”

Rantarou shrugged. “I hardly think Glossop Park is boring. There’s plenty of sights to see here.”

And he was right. Spiral brown paths were planted on the short, green grass along with patches of colorful flowers. Black street lamps lined the paths, though they weren’t lit yet. A few children occupied the monkey bars and sandboxes collected in one corner of the park, yet there weren’t too many people at the park. While a few large trees were scattered around the area, the majority of the vegetation consisted of bushes and flowers. Street vendors hauled their carts around, shouting for sales.

“Not a lot of people really know about this park. That means not a lot of people go here, so I figured it would be nice to just… not have to worry about anyone else,” Rantarou explained, ending his sentence with a sheepish chuckle and scratch of the head. “You know, since not a lot of us are comfortable with too much people around and—”

“How much do you bet Cuckma’s gonna jump in that pond?” Miu said, cutting him off.

“Seriously? I’m trying to make a serious speech here, and you cut me off like that?” Rantarou sighed and shook his head, trying to bite back the smile threatening to appear on his face. “Ten bucks.”

“I have more faith in Kichi-kun than that,” Tsumugi said, “I’ll bet against you for fifteen.”

Kokichi pouted. “Really? You’re only willing to bet fifteen bucks on me and the rest of you are betting against me? How rude! And here I was thinking we were friends.”

Miu laughed and ruffled his hair. “Yeah, sure. Anyway, what the fuck are we gonna do here, have public sex? One more thing off my bucket list.”

“Just go kick the bucket, that’s never gonna happen.”

“Rude.”

Rantarou hummed in thought. “I just thought we should take a breather and just… talk to each other, you know? You’re all my friends. I like talking to all of you.”

“That’s the most disgusting thing you’ve said all day,” Kokichi said, his nose wrinkled. His face of disgust was replaced by his usual carefree smile. “But sure, whatever Ran-chan says. As long as we don’t go with stupid Mi-chan’s ideas.”

“Hey, my ideas are top quality!” Miu squawked, starting another argument.

Tsumugi exchanged an exasperated look with Rantarou as they walked along the paths of the park.

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m telling you, if ninjas and pirates were to battle, the pirates would win by a long shot,” Miu said, “What the hell can a tiny ass blade the size of your dick to do a motherfucking cannon?”

Kokichi clicked his tongue and shook his head. “But you forget ninjas can move out of the way of cannons. Besides, pirates would run out of money pretty quickly if they were fighting against ninjas. Ninjas are trained and only need a sword to fuck things up. Pirates steal things from other people to make money, but they can’t steal if they’re too busy fighting pirates.”

“What was this conversation even about?” Tsumugi asked.

“About how wrong Mi-chan is.”

Miu snarled and whirled around to face him. “You wanna say that to my face, dickhead?”

Just as Kokichi opened his mouth to comply, Rantarou spoke up next. “Are you disagreeing with her because you have strong opinions or is it because you just want to disagree?”

Kokichi frowned. “It’s because she’s wrong. That, and it’s fun to argue, even if she makes the most boring arguments ever.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Miu called.

“How did we go from talking about the park to crepes to a battle between pirates versus ninjas?” Tsumugi asked, her tone incredulous.

“Well? Who would win?”

“... I have to go with ninjas.”

Miu snorted and crossed her arms while Kokichi cheered. “You two weeb shits and your ninjas. How about, Bitchmami?”

Rantarou hummed in thought. “I’ll go with pirates since they have an advantage in water. I don’t think ninjas can do anything at long range.”

“Did you forget about kunais and shurikens?” Tsumugi asked. “Ships are fragile. If they have enough holes in them, they’ll sink.”

“Aren’t those weapons too heavy for a ninja to carry?”

“Wait,” Kokichi said, “Are we talking about actual ninjas or ninjas from that weeb shit Tsu-chan watches?”

“It’s not weeb shit!” Tsumugi shrieked.

The few people in the park stared as they continued to argue back and forth. Somehow, none of the four noticed.

 

* * *

 

 

The centerpiece of the park was the huge, marble fountain surrounded by brick tiles and a small brick wall. Water rushed out of the top spout, dropping onto the tiers below it before eventually making its way to a drain, where it would inevitably repeat the cycle again. The water rushed quickly enough for mosquitoes and other bugs to be deterred but slowly enough for the water not to hurt when someone put their hand under it. The noise of water flowing was barely audible along with bird songs and rustling leaves in the background.

Miu leaned forward and squinted at the bottom of the fountain. “Are those pennies? Who the hell are the idiots tossing in pennies and blocking all the drains?”

“To be fair,” Rantarou said, “It gets cleaned pretty regularly so the fountain never runs out of water.”

“Doesn’t excuse them from being fucking morons.”

“I think it’s great they want to help finance the park. It doesn’t get much help from the local government, after all.”

“You’re seriously trying to talk government with me? I may be a genius, but not in that field. Talk to Oumoron about it or something.”

“That’s the lightest insult I’ve heard you use,” Rantarou mused. He turned around. “Hey, Kichi-kun, by the looks of this park, what do you—”

Nothing.

Miu turned around with him upon hearing him cut himself off. “Huh? Where the fuck did he go? And where’d Shittygane go, too?”

Rantarou whipped his head around again, scanning the area as his heartbeat spiked.

Nothing.

The world spun around him as he continued to search desperately for two of the people he was deemed responsible of, but to no avail. His heart rate spiked up so high he felt as if he could faint at any moment. He could vaguely feel sweat pooling at his forehead and his breathing picking up, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Nothing felt real.

“... -mi? Amami! Are you okay? Shit, dude, I-I’m gonna touch your hand, okay?” A warm hand hesitantly inched towards his.

Rantarou took the hand, taking the anchor to reality. The world felt cold and unreal, but the hand had to have been real. He blinked slowly and turned around to the figure next to him.

The figure was warm and firm. Its hand felt familiar somehow, as if he had spent a lot of time around the person. Maybe it was his sanity?

“Y-You’re okay, Amami. You’ll be fine. I’ve got you. Y-You just gotta… You just gotta slow down your breathing a little,” a voice stuttered.

Rantarou followed the voice’s directions and found the colors slowly returning to his vision. The world stopped spinning, and his stare burned into the fountain in front of him. He turned, finally recognizing the figure. “... Sorry about that, Mi-san. I didn’t mean to…”

“N-No, I understand,” Miu said, twirling a lock of hair around her finger and curling in on herself. “You good?”

His heart was still racing and his thoughts were still scattered, but it was significantly better than his previous state. So he nodded. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about Kichi-kun and Tsu-san. What if something happened to him?” His voice sped up with each word. “What if they’re in danger but I can’t—”

“They’re both legal adults. As much as they’re little shits, they can take care of themselves. I’m pretty sure none of them are in danger. And even if they were, they’re the sneakiest of all of us. They can just run away.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me, Cuntmami, the purple bitch can hold his own in a fight, and so can the cosplay bitch. You don’t need to worry about them.” Miu paused to take out her phone. “Besides, we can just call them. Did you really forget about technology?”

“... I think I actually did,” Rantarou mumbled, holding his head. “Just… Just give me a minute.”

Miu nodded and talked into the phone, but her words were muted as he slumped against the brick walls of the fountain.

He slammed his fist against the wall. How could he let his personal hangups get in the way of what was supposed to be a relaxing day? Wasn’t he supposed to be the big brother of the group? He wasn’t supposed to break down and force his friend into the role so suddenly.

“They were just getting crepes,” Miu said, keeping her phone in her hand to check for updates. “I got them to buy us some, too. They should be here soon.”

“Sorry,” Rantarou mumbled.

Miu raised an eyebrow. “Fuck are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I put a ton of responsibility on your shoulders without asking.”

“I wouldn’t call calming my friend down and calling two other friends as a ton of responsibility. And I don’t do shit because I feel like I have to, I do shit because I want to. You didn’t force me into anything.” She paused to slide her phone into her pocket, and her voice softened. “But I think we need to talk about this. Like, as a group. Is that cool with you?”

“I don’t want to bother anyone with it.”

“I swear to god, if you say some bullshit about how you’re supposed to be the big brother or something, I’m gonna take their crepes and throw it at you.”

Rantarou fell silent.

Another voice spoke up, growing louder as the source stepped closer towards them. “Hey, Ran-chan! Pink bitch! We got your crepes!”

“Kichi-kun, watch out! Don’t drop them!” Tsumugi grabbed one of the crepes from Kokichi’s hands and held it out to Miu. “Here, you wanted the strawberry and banana flavored one, right?”

Kokichi spoke up just as Miu opened her mouth to respond. “If you make a banana joke, I’m throwing you into the fountain.”

Miu rolled her eyes and took the crepe from Tsumugi. “Chill the fuck out, I wasn’t. I was totally about to make a whipped cream joke, though.”

Kokichi bent down and held a crepe out to Rantarou. “Here, Ran-chan! We got you the special human meat edition!”

Rantarou fixed a shaky smile on his face and stood up, grabbing the crepe from him. “A lie, right?”

“Nishishi, caught again! It has a bunch of kiwis in it, and we told the server to pour a ton of green food coloring into it. Or maybe I was lying about lying. Are you willing to risk a bite—Oh. You already ate half of it.”

Rantarou chuckled at Kokichi’s fallen face. “I don’t think anyone could get away with trying to serve human meat at a park. Nice try, though.”

Kokichi pouted and turned away from him. “Hmph. You’re no fun.” He bit into his own crepe before wrinkling his nose. “Ew! Did I get your crappy raspberry one?”

“Hey, raspberry isn’t crappy! If anything, grape is the crappy flavor here,” Tsumugi said, switching their crepes.

“Did you just call grape crappy?”

The two argued their points back and forth while occasionally stopping to bite their crepes or asking the other two to back them up. Unsurprisingly, it failed.

Rantarou’s skin prickled, but he could still find it in himself to laugh as he basked under the sun with his friends by his side.

 

* * *

 

 

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have dinner at a ramen shop with Tsumugi with them.

Miu’s fingers tightened around the menu she held in her hands. “Shittygane, I love you, but if you mention your weeb shit again, I’m gonna go over there and fucking strangle you.”

Tsumugi paused before turning to her with a raised eyebrow. “Mi-san, I’m right next to you.”

“Yeah, well… You know what I mean.”

Tsumugi shook her head and continued browsing the menu, albeit falling silent.

Their booth was just big enough for the four of them, consisting of a wooden table and seats. A football game played on the television above the bar at the front of the restaurant, though the customers around them seemed to be more occupied with speaking to each other. Waiters navigated through the wide spaces between each set of booths, carrying black plates with drinks or pushing a gray cart with dishes on them. The room was marked by the scent of ramen.

After a waiter took their order and menus from them, their table drifted from topic to topic, a few moments of silence punctuating them. It was only when their meals arrived that the conversation turned stale.

Kokichi had made a poor attempt to twirl the noodles around his chopsticks before dropping it back in the soup and looking up to stare at the others. “So, who wants to talk about what happened at the park?”

Rantarou looked up but avoided his eyes. “It’s fine, we don’t need to talk about it. It was just a one-time thing, trust me.”

“Hey, Ran-chan, look at me.”

Rantarou reluctantly met his eyes.

Kokichi gave him a smile faker than the plastic bowls their meal came in. “I’m telling the truth when I say I hate liars, but I don’t hate you. I don’t want to hate you either.” He paused before his smile softened into a more genuine one. “I understand you don’t want to talk about it, but we need to.”

Tsumugi nodded in agreement. “I would like to think you would trust us enough to tell us what’s bothering you if you trust us enough to go on a road trip with us without a—Ow! Why’d you kick me?” She sent a glare to Kokichi.

Kokichi glared back at her. “Don’t guilt-trip him into telling us!”

“... Crap, I was? Sorry. You don’t have to—”

“But I want to,” Rantarou interrupted. His movements to put down his chopsticks were shaky. “If I try to back out of it, I want you to tell me to keep going.”

Kokichi’s eyes glittered. “Ooh, is this where we unlock your tragic backstory?”

“Not exactly tragic, but…”

“Shut up, dickface, let the avocado prick talk,” Miu said, turning her body towards Rantarou.

“I, um…” Rantarou faltered. He had never been in a position to talk about himself like this, and his skin crawled at the attention. “I’ll tell you the full story sometime down the line, but for now, let’s just say I’ve lost some important people before, and I don’t like losing important people now.”

“Well, that’s vague as hell. But okay.”

The other three resumed eating, and Rantarou raised an eyebrow.

“You guys are really fine with that explanation?”

Tsumugi shrugged. “You’re not obligated to tell us anything. And this ramen place is really good, so…”

“Unless you want to tell us,” Kokichi said, halfway through crunching on an onion. “If you want to tell us, we’ll listen. If not, I’ll be here, scrolling through Instagram.”

Miu leaned over the slightest bit, and her face broke into a grin. “Oh my god. Are you looking at pictures of us from last year?”

“Pff, no! I was looking at sword collections.”

“I just got a like on a post from a year ago, you little shit.”

“Who has Instagram notifications turned on?”

“You’re not denying it!”

“Yes, I did!”

Tsumugi buried her face into her hands as another argument brewed between the two, while Rantarou took a sip of water with an amused smile on his face.

It was obvious the two were just trying to create a distraction. Or, at least, Kokichi was. Rantarou wasn’t completely sure Miu quite knew what she was doing.

The gesture was appreciated.

 

* * *

 

 

Luckily, the motel room they had checked out was only a few miles away from the park and was significantly less sketchy than the previous one.

As soon as Tsumugi unlocked the door, Kokichi skipped in and pretended to gawk in amazement at the features. “Look! There’s no blood! What a miracle!”

“Out of the way, Shitma,” Miu said, pushing Kokichi into the room and setting her belongings down on one bed. “Tittygane and I have this bed. You two can have the other.”

Kokichi let out an exaggerated sigh of relief as he flopped down on the bed next to them. “Oh, thank god! I don’t have to share a bed with that disgusting pig. I feel so sorry for you, Tsu-chan.”

Tsumugi ignored both Kokichi’s attempts to raise an argument and Miu’s weak defenses. “It’s only eight in the evening. What do you want to do?”

Rantarou paused to pick up a box of cards from the ground Kokichi had dropped earlier. “Kichi-kun, you brought Cards Against Humanity?”

“Yup! I figured it was a good idea to drive our group apart,” Kokichi said.

“Then you would have picked something like Monopoly.”

“To be fair, Monopoly isn’t that bad. Try Uno if you want to really test your friendship.”

“Oh, I brought a deck of Uno cards!” Tsumugi said, her eyes sparkling.

“No.”

“Okay.”

Rantarou sat on the floor cross-legged, humming as he shuffled the box of white cards. “I’d say we can all just play Cards Against Humanity. That has the least likely possibility of us throwing someone out the window.”

“Joke’s on you, cunthead,” Miu said, sitting down next to him. “But I’m always gonna want to throw Cuckma out the window.”

“It’s called defenestration, you uncultured swine. And I would say the feeling’s mutual, but you probably don’t know what that word even means,” Kokichi retorted with a snort. He sat down on Rantarou’s other side. “Come on, Ran-chan, my grandma could shuffle those cards faster than you.”

Tsumugi sat down, completing the circle as she held her hand out. “Just give it here, I know how to shuffle cards.”

“I don’t trust Tsu-chan to not tamper with the cards.”

As soon as Rantarou handed over the cards, Tsumugi split it and gave the other half to Kokichi. “Here, you shuffle this. We can just combine the two when we’re done. Mi-san, can you shuffle the black cards, too?”

“Why the hell would you need to shuffle the black cards?” Miu asked, though she followed directions nonetheless.

Once the cards were shuffled and the game began, it soon became clear that playing Cards Against Humanity instead of another game like Uno was not the better option for strengthening their friendship. In fact, it appeared to be the opposite.

“Oh, great, Mi-chan’s the card czar this round,” Kokichi said, rolling his eyes. “Everyone, pull out as many dick jokes as you can.”

“H-Hey, my humor isn’t all just dick jokes!” Miu whined. “I wasn’t gonna pick just any joke with a dick in it.”

“You’re really not that good at lying, are you?”

Miu grabbed a black card off the stack. “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s blank.”

The other three stayed silent as they put their cards face-down on the ground.

Miu flipped them over once all three cards were put down. “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s ancient Athenian boy-fucking. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s child support payments. Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s… Miu’s slutty tendencies? Cuckma! What the hell?”

Rantarou and Tsumugi laughed into their hands while Kokichi only raised an eyebrow. “What? That’s not my card.”

“Who the hell else would use a blank card like that?”

“Literally any one of us?”

“Whatever. At least this one is true. I’m picking this card.”

“Thank you very much,” Rantarou said, sliding the black card to his side.

Miu gawked at him. “Amabitch! What the fuck?”

“Sorry, but it was too good to pass up.” One luck at his giggling state was enough to tell the others he was the exact opposite of sorry.

“I told you that wasn’t my card,” Kokichi grumbled. “I was ancient Athenian boy-fucking. I thought you were smarter than that, but apparently not.”

“I can’t believe I wasted my child support payments card,” Tsumugi murmured, stacking the white cards and adding them to the bottom of the white card stack.

Rantarou only shrugged in response. “Looks like I’m the card czar now.” He set a black card down on the ground. “Instead of coal, Santa now gives the bad children blank.”

Once the blank card reading “Miu” was revealed, the screeches and laughter only grew louder.

 

* * *

 

 

Rantarou rubbed his eyes and stared at the alarm clock reading 12:10 AM on the nightstand separating the two beds. He could vaguely make out the figure of Tsumugi’s glasses and Miu’s goggles set next to the clock as well as their slow, breathing figures. The night was calm.

He frowned and looked over to his right.

For someone who was so clingy and affectionate during the day, Kokichi was awfully far from him. He hung off the edge of the bed, and it seemed as if at any moment he could fall.

And fall he did. Once the clock hit 12:11 AM, he rolled over, falling on the ground with a thud. His eyes flew open, desperately trying to make out any sense of where he was.

Rantarou held back his laughter enough to reach his hand out. “Kichi-kun, are you alright?”

Kokichi paused and blinked before sighing and taking the hand, climbing back onto bed. “Nope, I fractured my skull. I’m only talking from the sheer shock of the force.”

“Nice try, but shock can’t keep a dead man alive.”

“Caught me again!” Kokichi cheered, though the usual triumph in his voice was muted. Whether it was from falling or from exhaustion or something else, Rantarou didn’t know. “Man, Mi-chan and Tsu-chan really are heavy sleepers, aren’t they? I swear, they could sleep through a fire alarm.”

“They almost did,” Rantarou mused. “You were sick that day, but we had a fire drill while Miu was sleeping in class. Tsu-san and I had to drag her outside and pretend she just fainted out of shock.”

“Oh, come on! I always miss the fun days.”

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t call that fun. My arms get sore just thinking about it.”

Kokichi breathed out his signature laugh, though it lacked its usual enthusiasm. He stayed still, staring up at the constellations on the ceiling. “Hey, Ran-chan, what do you do when you have a nightmare about everyone you love leaving you?”

That was a 3 AM conversation, not a midnight conversation. Still, Rantarou considered it. He had had similar nightmares in the past before, after all. “Remind myself it’s just a nightmare and a product of my imagination, not reality. Why? Did you have a nightmare?”

“Nope! I had the best dream ever about all my organization members coming to pamper me. We’re a worldwide organization, so I don’t get many opportunities to see them.”

“I see,” Rantarou said, nodding along to Kokichi’s lies, though he could tell Kokichi knew he didn’t quite believe him. Both his nightmare and his “dream” were related to loved ones. Maybe there was something going on there. “Hey, Kichi-kun, you like being around people, don’t you?”

“Yup! I love people, and they love me.”

A lie if he had ever heard one. But now wasn’t the time to point that out and send Kokichi back into the shell he had worked so hard to get him out of. “Then me, Tsu-san, and Mi-san are no exception, right? Especially since we’re your close friends.”

Kokichi rolled his eyes. “Since when were you my close friends? More like fellow associates.”

“Would you go on a road trip with fellow associates?”

“I mean, business trips exist for a reason.”

Rantarou frowned. “Yeah, but—”

“If you want to say we’re friends, you need to prove it to me,” Kokichi said, “Where’s your evidence?”

Rantarou hummed in thought, gathering his memories. “For one, you came to my house in the middle of the night with a head injury when you really should have just called the police. You also went to Mi-san’s robotics competition even though you didn’t have to. And you went to Tsu-san’s anime convention even when you didn’t know anything about it. We all did. I’d say that makes us all pretty good friends, right?”

Kokichi scoffed and looked down at his hand. “Friendship isn’t just about hanging out. Tons of drug dealers hang out, but you don’t see them calling each other friends.”

“And we’re not going anywhere.”

Kokichi froze.

“I doubt drug dealers actually hang out with each other, but just for the sake of the example, let’s say they did,” Rantarou said, “Since they’re in the same area, they have a lot of competition with each other, and drug-dealing is a dangerous field. They’re going to be afraid of having someone stab their back or rat them out to the police. But us—we don’t have a chance of doing that. We cheated together in high school, right? Any one of us could have told the teacher, but we didn’t. And there was that time Tsu-san and I had to bail you and Mi-san out of jail, so I highly doubt we’re going to suddenly turn on you and frame you for murder or something equally as horrible.” He held out his pinky and gave him a gentle smile he hoped would convey the message of the parents Kokichi never had. “So let me promise this. I promise that me, Tsu-san, and Mi-san aren’t going anywhere.”

Kokichi stared at the finger before wrapping his own pinky around it. “You break your promise, and I get to chop off your pinky, you know that?”

“I know. That’s how sure I am, and I don’t like getting my fingers chopped off.”

“Have you had your fingers chopped off before?”

“Twice. Once when I was cooking and once when I got experimental with a shoestring,” Rantarou said, adding a playful wink at the end of his sentence.

“Who’s the liar now?” Kokichi snickered.

“Still you.”

“Nishishi! Still me! But you’re the real hypocrite here.”

The sudden change in tone made Rantarou’s blood go cold. He fought to keep his face calm. “What?”

“You say all this stuff about promising not to leave, but you act like we’re about to leave you at any time.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Kokichi fell silent, and his smile slipped off his face, leaving a blank slate Rantarou wished he never had to see. A moment passed before he plastered his usual smile on his face. “Nothing. Just think about it, okay?”

Rantarou studied Kokichi’s face for any sign of a prank, but the usual amusement behind his eyes wasn’t present. The smile was meant to be a way to ease the tension in the atmosphere, but his words still hung in the air. So he nodded.

Kokichi seemed pleased with his answer and lied back down on the bed, facing away from him and inching towards the edge of the bed. It wasn’t the best way to sleep and certainly wasn’t the best way to sleep after a nightmare. There was one hope of both of them getting a good night’s sleep, though he wasn’t sure if he should suggest it or not.

Rantarou pushed his hesitation away and tried to conjure up the best lie he could. “Kichi-kun, it’s cold. Can we huddle together for warmth?”

“That’s the worst lie I’ve ever heard.”

Ah. That probably wasn’t the best lie in the middle of summer.

After a few seconds of silence, Kokichi rolled over to face him and curled his knees to his chest, his eyes shut. “You’re such a sap, Ran-chan, wanting to cuddle after talking about our feelings. Should we all just have a huge cuddle pile while we spill our feelings to our beloved big brother?”

Rantarou chuckled and brought the blankets over both of them. He would take the teasing if it meant there would be no more nightmares. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it. You’re all my family.”

Kokichi didn’t respond, ducking his head down. Still, the smile on his face was barely visible beyond the locks of purple hair. A few moments later, his breathing had slowed to a steady pace, and his face was relaxed.

Rantarou shut his eyes as well, the sounds of the night lulling him to sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

The first thing Tsumugi woke up to was a silhouette behind the curtain to their tiny balcony and the cold breezes of the morning. The second thing she woke up to was a flurry of curses as the silhouette jerked, grabbing onto the curtain.

A familiar figure poked her head through the curtains. She let out a few more curses before meeting Tsumugi’s eyes and offering her a sheepish smile. “Uh… good morning?”

Tsumugi reached over to the nightstand and put her glasses on, the figure clearing into what she could recognize as Miu. “Good morning, Miu. Why are you up at six in the morning?”

“Those god damn flying bitches in the sky kept screaming and woke me up.”

“... You mean birds?”

“Birds, flying bitches, whatever the fuck,” Miu said, waving her hand in dismissal. “Why the hell are you up?”

Tsumugi climbed out of bed and shrugged. She stretched her arms before walking towards the curtain. “I usually wake up this early. I guess the habit just stuck with me since high school.”

“What are you, one of those blue flying fucks? There’s literally no reason you need to get up this early.”

“Ah, so you saw a bluebird. They’re common in this area.”

“Why do you know this?”

“Because I actually paid attention in biology when we were in our ecosystems unit.” Tsumugi stepped out into the balcony, noting her feet almost touched the railing when she did. “This balcony is tiny. Can it even be considered a balcony?”

Miu wrinkled her nose and lazily kicked at the railing. “Not if it’s this flimsy. It’s probably strong enough to hold both of us, but not if some third idiot came in here.”

“How can you tell just at a glance? You really know your way around technology, huh?”

“One, I’m a genius, but technology and architecture are two completely different things. Two, it’s just plain common sense. Look at all those shitty cracks on the wall. You really think that’s gonna hold more than two people?”

Tsumugi stared as Miu rambled about the flaws in the building, occasionally cursing the wind out when it would pick up and blow her hair into her face. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

Miu furrowed her eyebrows. “What, the balcony? Of course I believe it’s shitty as hell, it’s fucking--”

“No, I meant… Do you really believe you’re a genius? No judgement here or anything, I’m just curious.”

Miu opened her mouth to respond but hesitated, shutting her mouth again. Her gaze drifted to the road outside the motel, where a few cars zipped by. “That’s easier, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m hella smart in technology, there’s no doubt about that. But…” Miu paused to release a stray strand of hair into the wind. “That’s not all it takes to be famous. You’ve gotta make a good idea, get some good people on your team, be in the right place at the right time… Shit, even if you do that, you still risk the chance of dying as a nobody.”

Tsumugi kicked a dead leaf off the railing, watching it drift down to the street below them. “What’s so bad about dying as a nobody? You’ve still got your closest friends with you.”

“Maybe, but I want to change the world.”

Tsumugi glanced over to her just in time to see Miu’s eyes blaze with a fiery passion she hadn’t witnessed before as she explained her thought process.

Miu gulped. “I want to change the whole fucking world. Changing one person’s world is fine and all, but I want to make my mark on this world, damn it! Miu motherfucking Iruma is here, and she’s here to rock the world.”

Tsumugi couldn’t help the smile that breached her face as she reached out to touch Miu’s shoulder. “Then do it. It’s okay if you don’t succeed. We’ll still be here by your side.”

“W-Why would… Who wants to be around a failure?”

“We all have different definitions of failure. And some of us…” Tsumugi retracted her hand and kicked another dead leaf off the railing. “Some of us are just meant to be nameless.”

Miu furrowed her eyebrows. “Why do you sound so fucking sad about that?”

“I’m not sad, it’s something I’ve learned a long time ago. I’m not special or unique or anything, so there’s no chance I’ll be known outside my friend circle. It’s okay, really.”

“You don’t sound too okay with it. Are you sure you’re not just… I don’t know, I’m not good at this analysis shit.”

Tsumugi chuckled. “You don’t have to be. Just don’t forget me when you’re famous, okay?”

“You really think I could ever forget about you?”

“Huh?”

“You little bitch, you really think I could forget about you?” Miu’s voice cracked in the middle of her sentence, but she continued. “You’re my fucking friend. I’m not gonna forget about you.”

Tsumugi frowned. “You don’t need to concern yourself with me. In the future, we might not keep in contact.”

“To hell with the future, I’m talking about the present, Shittygane,” Miu said, taking her hand. Her eyes blazed not with passion, but with the most anger Tsumugi had ever seen from her. “Eight billion fucking people on this planet, and everything somehow fucked up just right for me to meet you. That’s amazing as hell. Do you know what the chances of that are?”

“Uh… one in eight billion?”

“And add in factors like distance, behavior, and shit like that, and you get a giant cocktail of ‘I don’t know what happened, but I’m fine with it.’ Even if you don’t think you’re special, you are to me. I’m not saying that again, so you’d better remember it.”

Tsumugi stared into her eyes before smiling and giggling. “You really are smart, aren’t you, Mi-san?”

“S-Shut up!” Miu threw her hand off her and turned away. “This is bullshit. I’m going back inside.”

“Wait, it’s dawn. The sun is rising.”

“You want to spend two minutes staring at a giant ball of burning gas?”

“I mean, it’s pretty.”

Miu stared at her incredulously before sighing and stepping out into the balcony again, setting her elbows on the railing. “Fine. If this railing falls while we’re out here, I’m blaming you.”

“Even though you’re the one with your arms on it?”

“Whatever.”

And if Miu knew Tsumugi could see her hiding a smile when the sun finally peeked over the horizon, she didn’t say anything.

 

* * *

 

 

The second Miu opened the door to the driver’s seat, Kokichi threw himself into the backseat and hurried to click his seatbelt on.

“Wow, fuck you too, Cuckma,” Miu grumbled, climbing into the car and fastening her own seatbelt.

Kokichi raised his palms up in a defensive position. “Hey, I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t need to. I can feel your smug aura from all the way over here.”

“Apparently Mi-chan’s an aura reader, guys, watch out. She’ll suck your soul out if you look directly at her.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what an aura reader is,” Rantarou said as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Tsumugi hummed in agreement, tearing her gaze away from the window to address them. “I thought aura readers were supposed to be peaceful.”

Kokichi shook his head. “No, that’s just propaganda from the aura reader movement that Mi-chan’s been paid to tell you. She’s brainwashing you! All aura readers are actually murderers who gouged their eyes out to gain their abilities!”

“... Jesus Christ.” Rantarou stiffened and lied low in his chair.

Tsumugi’s face paled. “Did… Did you really have to go that far? I never needed to imagine that.”

Miu’s gaze flickered to the rear view mirror. “See? Look what you’ve done, Fuckma.”

“Fuckma?” Kokichi mused, “That’s a new one.”

“You just had to make up some shitty conspiracy theory about aura readers, if they even exist. Look what you’ve done to Shittygane and Amacunt. They’re fucking shaking in their boots.”

Before either Rantarou or Tsumugi could refute, Kokichi spoke up first. “I don’t want to hear that from the person whose playlist is half songs from children’s shows and half trap. Is this like the Russian Roulette of playlists?”

“Bitch, half of your playlist is literally you screaming.”

“Hey! My mixtapes are fire!”

“Mi-san, if you don’t drive right now, I’m throwing all of us out of the car,” Rantarou mumbled with crossed arms.

Miu focused her eyes back on the road and stepped on the gas pedal, darting her gaze back and forth before merging into the lane. No one commented on her careful driving.

 

* * *

 

 

If Tsumugi was keeping track correctly, they had spent a week together already. That meant a week of being in each others’ personal spaces and discovering their bad habits. And as it turned out, they had a lot of them.

“Ouma,” Miu growled, her knuckles white and teeth clenched. “If you don’t stop humming the theme to Power Rangers, I swear to whoever the hell is up there I’m gonna throw you out the fucking window right now.”

The smile disappeared off Kokichi’s face and was replaced with a scowl. “I’ll stop humming if Ran-chan stops shaking his leg.”

Rantarou smiled, but the tension in his face was evident. “I’ll stop shaking my leg when we actually go fast enough to reach our destination in time.”

“Listen, Cuckmami, I kind of don’t want us to die,” Miu said.

“There’s literally no other cars in the road.”

“Still, what if a car just comes out of nowhere and whacks into us? If we get in an accident, I’m sure as hell not taking responsibility for it.”

“It would be easy to prove it was the other driver’s fault if that happens. I promise we’re not gonna get into an accident.”

“I’ll stop driving so slowly if you stop shaking your fucking leg.”

“I’ll stop shaking my leg when you stop driving so slowly.”

“Guys, don’t leave me out of this!” Kokichi whined, pulling on his seatbelt to dive forward and insert himself into the following argument.

The three were in each others’ faces now, though Miu kept her eyes on the road and Rantarou kept his seatbelt fastened. Their voices steadily grew louder as their argument transitioned from petty to ridiculous. Attacks and defenses flew everywhere, but it wasn’t if any of them were sticking.

Tsumugi picked up her sewing needle and hummed as she sewed a red line into the fabric map as the world collapsed around her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> s/o to TheEagleFox for the beginning note quote. you are infinitely more creative than i ever will be
> 
> Car speeds: yes i see tsumugi as a speed demon and kokichi as a tortoise. its canon now.
> 
> Cards Against Humanity: i have the game but i honestly have no clue how blank cards are supposed to work so. take my sad attempts at recreating one of my game sessions
> 
> Birds: birds are assholes. this note really wasnt necessary but i feel strongly about this.
> 
> A lot of references to previous chapters and previous installments of the series in this chapter.
> 
> and note: i do intend to elaborate on Amami's past in future chapters. i actually already have it written out so dont worry about it guys.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "A good friend is a connection to life--a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world."

By the time they reached their next destination, the city’s name was written in both English and a script Miu couldn’t recognize. More and more signs were translated into both languages before everything was written into a different language. They passed through various neighborhoods, each containing indicators of a different environment, but the general area seemed to be held together by a single identity.

Miu flicked her thumb at a metal sign outside the car window. “Hey, any of you know what language that’s in?”

“Try slowing down so we can read it,” Rantarou said, staring out the window on the search for another sign.

“Oh, so  _ now _ you want me to slow down.”

“Are you really starting another argument with someone you’re asking a question? And we’re in Taesan. The signs are probably in Korean.”

The relaxed smile on Kokichi’s face tensed. “Taesan?”

“Yeah?”

Tsumugi’s eyes lit up, and a smile danced on her lips. “Are we attending the Celebration of Joy?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know why you’re surprised. You  _ are _ the one that planned it with me,” Rantarou mumbled. He smiled. “Do you or Kichi-kun know any Korean?”

It was as if the car had screeched to a halt. Both Tsumugi and Kokichi remained frozen even as the vehicle moved. They exchanged a quick, panicked glance that barely lasted for a split second before Kokichi beamed at them.

“Of course! I practically have a master’s degree in every language of the world.”

Rantarou’s smile softened. “Then can you ask me how my day was in Korean?”

“How was your day in Korean?”

“Fucking anarchists, I’m telling you,” Miu mumbled.

Rantarou sighed and shook his head, though the ends of his lips twitched into an amused smile. “What about you, Tsu-san?”

Tsumugi bit her lip. “I started learning it in ninth grade but stopped a few months after. I know the basics, but not much more than greetings and maybe where the bathroom is. I wouldn’t trust me with being the translator.”

“Well, looks like we’re fucked,” Miu said, though she didn’t look panicked in the slightest, her eyes even gleaming.

And fucked they were, though they found they didn’t really mind.

 

* * *

 

The city nightlife was wilder than any of the four had ever seen, both fireworks and yellow and orange festival lights lighting up the sky dotted with stars. The streets were packed with people of all ages, some donning colorful traditional outfits, others wearing casual clothes, and a select few wearing pajamas. Children weaved their way through the crowd, chasing each other as their parents spoke with the other adults in the area. Teenagers mostly kept to themselves, though they were occasionally dragged into an uncomfortable introduction to a relative or joined the children in playing games. Street vendors piled into the streets, their shouts muted by the music playing over the city’s speaker system. The city was alive, and it showed no signs of dying anytime soon.

Miu bit into a dumpling, fumbling with the chopsticks before ultimately dropping the half-eaten dumpling back onto the paper plate in front of her as her friends giggled. “Fuck all of you, metal chopsticks are slippery as hell.”

“All you need to do is take your gloves off, you know,” Rantarou mused.

“Nah, fuck that.”

“I think you’re just scared of losing them.”

Her face flushed, and she slammed the chopsticks onto the wooden table separating them. “What the fu—”

“Who wants drinks?” Tsumugi said, the desperation in her voice and smile evident. “Let’s not fight in public. Do that in the car.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Rantarou’s eyes darted between the two before his smile flipped into a smirk. “Good luck communicating that to the shopkeeper, Tsu-san.”

“What?” Tsumugi’s smile fell upon hearing the rapid Korean flying by her, and Miu burst into a round of hysterical laughter. “Ah, hell…”

“What’re you waiting for, Tittygane? Go, we totally believe in you!” Miu pushed her out of their booth, and the crowd sweeped her away.

Rantarou watched as a familiar head of blue hair staggered through the waves of people before finally making her way to the register. “Are you sure that was a good idea?”

Miu only shrugged.

Through a long series of hand movements and broken language English and Korean, Tsumugi returned to their table carrying a pack of beer and two glasses. She set them on the table and sat down with her arms crossed and lips pursed. “That was embarrassing…”

“But you still did it, right?” Rantarou said, opening a bottle of beer. “It’s impressive, especially since you’re a beginner. I’m sure the storekeeper appreciated you trying to use Korean.”

“... Thanks.” Tsumugi looked around. “Where did Kichi-kun go?”

“Fucker’s playing traditional games with the kids,” Miu said as she poured the beer into a cup.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Eh, they seem happy. They’re right there.” She pointed at a crowd of people across the street.

Tsumugi followed her finger to see a group of children surrounding Kokichi. They played with six small blocks on the ground, tossing one up in the air before scrambling to pick one off the ground and catch the block again. The current player was Kokichi, whose stare remained focused on the blocks. He managed to have five in his hand before missing the final block, prompting sounds of disappointment from the children, who emptied their blocks onto the street and challenged him to catch all of them by the time the night was over. By the way Kokichi had beamed and nodded, he had agreed.

“He’s such a child,” Rantarou mused before taking a sip of his drink. “Slow down, Mi-san. We’re drinking two beers in one hour with plenty of water in between.”

Miu snorted and rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine, whatever. Didn’t know you wanted to be such a bore.”

“We’re both drinking for the first time. I’d rather not have to force Tsu-san to drag us back to the car.”

“If either of you black out, I’m not dragging you back,” Tsumugi said. She picked up her chopsticks and chewed on a rice cake. “But please take it slowly. It’s more for your health than mine.”

“You’re both pussies,” Miu grumbled, though she slowed her drinking speed.

A few meters away from them, Kokichi bit his lip as he focused on the blocks in the air. Everything else around him became a blur of color and cheers.

_ Four on the ground, one in the air. Three in the air, two on the ground. Zero on the ground— _

“Sorry, but I’ve gotta go,” one of the children said, sweeping up the blocks. “Eonni’s here.”

“Eonni’s here?” another asked, his eyes sparkling.

Kokichi handed the blocks back with a grin but before he could ask who their big sister was, he was met with the answer.

Red eyes met purple. An imitation white straightjacket against a black and red school uniform. Spiky purple hair against two long brown pigtails. Shock painted on both of their faces.

The two stared at each other, their usual guards destroyed by the surprise in front of them. They gaped and tried to translate the thoughts flying in their heads to words.

“I—you’re…”

“How did you…”

Silence.

Finally, Kokichi willed himself to flash whatever smile he could muster before turning away, using the crowd to disappear like he always did. When he turned back, she had disappeared, too.

Coming back was a bad idea.

Kokichi dumped himself into a seat next to the three shining beacons of light and tried to produce his own. “Hey, what’s up? How drunk has Mi-chan gotten?”

“Not there yet,” Miu mumbled, taking another sip. Her eyes narrowed. “What’s with that sad look on your face? Did you try getting laid and got rejected or something?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? I’m not sad.”

Rantarou laid a hand on his shoulder, anchoring him back to reality. “Kichi-kun, that’s such an obvious lie that even Mi-san didn’t fall for it. What’s wrong?”

Kokichi’s face went blank, and his heart raced. Was he ready for this? For the painful memories, probing questions, and history he tried so hard to leave behind being uncovered?

“You don’t have to say anything now,” Tsumugi said, her eyebrows furrowed in worry. “It would be helpful, but you’re obviously unwell. Take your time.”

Partially ready.

Kokichi paused, taking the words from the thoughts clouding in his head and trying to form sentences with them. “Well first, I was lying about not speaking Korean.” He ignored Tsumugi’s scandalized gasp to continue. “Did… Did you guys happen to see the tall girl that came up to me while I was playing with the blocks?”

The other three murmured some variations of a yes.

“And you know how Taesan used to be a violent city?”

Rantarou’s eyes widened. “Wait, what—”

“We were in the same… house. She protected me. I protected her.”

“So… shouldn’t you be happy to see her?” Tsumugi asked.

“I moved away.”

The other three fell silent as the implications settled in.

Tsumugi, again, was the first to speak. “Wait a second—”

“Sorry, you have to be friendship level five hundred to unlock the rest of my backstory,” Kokichi said with a humorless grin. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet a few of my other friends.”

Miu’s hand reached out and gripped his wrist. “Wait a minute, that means you’re a native of this town, right? And you know how to not get lost?”

“Being an idiot as always, Mi-chan. Don’t you know cities change over time?”

“Fuck you! But still. Not like I care. We have what’s called—” She took in a deep breath and sang, “Fucking  _ technology~! _ ”

“Okay, she’s officially drunk,” Rantarou muttered.

“Nishishi! Who would’ve known she would be such a lightweight?”

Tsumugi sighed and stood up. “Mi-san, hold my hand. I don’t trust you to not wander off somewhere and get run over by a car.”

“No, that’s gay as hell,” Miu said. Despite that, she clung onto Tsumugi’s hand like it was her lifeline and stood up, her legs shaking.

Rantarou took the opportunity to stand up as well. He collected their plates and tossed them in a nearby trash can. “I’m sure there’s more to do here outside this festival. You mind showing us around town, Kichi-kun?”

Kokichi stopped to think. He had never quite gotten closure from moving away so quickly from the city he grew up in. Maybe seeing everything one last time could give him that? Was that too much to ask for?

Kokichi fixed a grin on his face. “Nope, not at all! Let’s go!”

He skipped out of the booth, his heart heavier than stone.

 

* * *

 

Houses of people he used to know. Ripped posters from years ago. New buildings. New stores. New restaurants.

This was not the place Kokichi knew.

Kokichi sent a side eye at the glaring neon lights announcing the presence of a Korean barbecue place. It had replaced a tiny ramen shop in the wall and another shop with it.

Across the street, a karaoke bar replaced at least three small stores, one of which Kokichi used to hide out at after school with a red scrunchie tied around his wrist.

He looked down.

Two blank wrists.

He moved on.

 

* * *

 

The walls of Taesan’s schools didn’t have blood splattered over them. Or wet walls from a poor janitor’s attempt at cleaning it. Or dried blood spots when the janitor inevitably gave up trying to clean up after every incident.

“Holy fuck, are we back at our shitty high school?” Miu slurred. She half-heartedly punched Rantarou’s shoulder. “What the fuck, Avocadick?”

Rantarou chuckled as he wrapped his hands around Miu’s loosely-wound fists. “It really does look a lot like our own school, doesn’t it?”

As the other three bantered, Kokichi took one last look at the school. He briefly considered breaking into the school before realizing security cameras had been planted outside and were probably planted in every corner of the school.

“God, you’re all idiots,” Kokichi said, pouting. “There’s security cameras, you know. We probably look like a bunch of criminals.”

“You would blend right in with the elementary school,” Tsumugi mused. She laughed at the resulting incredulence from Kokichi.

“You guys are so mean,” Kokichi whined.

Despite that, they kept moving.

 

* * *

 

His former home was completely reinvented. Old, cracked bricks were replaced with newly polished concrete. Windows had been cut into the wall. They were clean. Trash was put into trash cans, not on the floor around it. No alcohol bottles were seen anywhere near the premises.

“Braveheart Capital Orphanage,” Rantarou read, squinting at the black print on the new concrete sign. “Seems like a nice place.”

It was not.

Kokichi stayed silent, taking in everything that had happened to him in the past few hours. He ignored Rantarou desperately trying to pretend like he wasn’t thinking, Tsumugi sending him worried looks, and Miu drunkenly stumbling around. 

Past Taesan was a different place from Present Taesan. This was not the home he had known so many years ago. He could understand that now.

Kokichi bent down and plucked a daffodil from the ground. He turned to smile at his new home. “I’m ready to go.”

 

* * *

 

“This isn’t safe at all,” Tsumugi mumbled as she reclined her seat back.

“ _ You’re  _ not safe at all,” Miu said.

“You’re so drunk your insults don’t make sense.”

It was five hours after the carnival. Drunk or not, fatigue clouded everyone’s minds until all they could focus on was getting sleep. All motels and hotels in the area were booked, so their last resort was sleeping in their car in a parking lot with a few other people who had been unfortunate  enough to be caught in the same circumstance as them. The parking wasn’t completely legal in the area, but the shopkeepers were willing to turn a blind eye to it during the Celebration of Joy.

It was three in the morning, around the time the carnival rolled to a close. Stores were now closing. A few drunkards still roamed the area, but they were few and far between. The children had been sent to their homes long before midnight. The loud sounds of the city was subdued into a quiet night, the only sound being the chirps of crickets and a few cars driving past. The only warmth provided to them was the car cushions and the pillows and blankets Miu had brought. The light of the buildings faded, leaving them only in the company of each other and the stars.

“Hey, Cuckmami,” Miu mumbled, fatigue lacing her voice. “You know anything about the bright shit up there?”

Rantarou barely held back an amused chuckle. “You mean the stars? I know a few basic things, but not any constellations or anything like that.”

“Damn it.”

“She’s drunk, right?” Kokichi asked.

Miu snapped to attention and scowled. “Hey! I’m not drunk!”

“She’s drunk,” Tsumugi confirmed.

“Fuck both of you.”

Kokichi pointed up at the sky. “You see those four bright stars that make a box? That’s the constellation Boxus Majorus. The four duller stars next to it make the constellation Boxus Minorus.”

Even though it was blatantly clear he was lying, Miu stared up at the stars with fascination, her eyes twinkling as brightly as the stars did. She listened to a few more of Kokichi’s explanations of the constellations before drifting to sleep with her head on the pillow and the pillow on the window.

Tsumugi raised an eyebrow. “Really? Boxus Majorus and Minorus? That’s the best you could come up with?”

Kokichi shrugged. “Hey, it worked. It’s her fault for falling for such an obvious lie.”

“Any astronomer would probably cry if they heard what you told her,” Rantarou teased as he threw a blanket on top of Miu. He wrapped himself with another blanket. “Besides that, you’re a real star at lying.”

“Ran-chan, that’s the worst pun I’ve ever heard.”

Rantarou rubbed the back of his head with a chuckle. “Aha, sorry. It was the only one I could come up with. I’m just… really tired.”

“Then go to sleep already. Aren’t you supposed to be blacked out from drinking so much?”

“I barely drank two bottles of beer and didn’t even touch the soju like Mi-san did. I’m not sure what my alcohol tolerance is, but it’s definitely higher than that.”

“Meanwhile…” Tsumugi said as they turned to stare at her.

Miu was propped up against the window with her head on a small pillow. Her arms fell to her sides, forming a strange shape with the pink blanket thrown over her. The blanket rose and fell steadily with her breath,  her mouth slightly agape as she snored.

Next to her in the backseat, Rantarou had fallen asleep in the time they assured themselves Miu was alive. His head was already cushioned by the headrest of his chair. Another pink blanket decorated with flowers covered him, though his arms lied on top of the blanket and his heart. They rose and fell with his breath. His head was tilted down and eyes shut.

“Look at these drunk idiots,” Kokichi snickered, snapping a picture of them with flash.

Tsumugi frowned and pushed his phone away. “Be careful with the flash, you’ll wake them up.”

Kokichi pouted but slid his phone back into the pocket. “Fine. Can you send me those videos you took of them drunk? It’s good blackmail material.”

“I already sent them to the group chat.” Tsumugi stared as a rat in the parking lot in front of them scurried away carrying a bag of chips. “You should go to sleep. We don’t want to be off-schedule.”

“Will do!” Kokichi cheered with a salute. He fell back in his seat and shut his eyes, snoring so obnoxiously she was certain the other cars in the parking lot could hear it. 

“Nobody sleeps with a smile on their face.”

Again, Kokichi pouted and opened his eyes. “Hmph. You’re no fun.”

Tsumugi shuffled in her blanket. “I’m not trying to be fun, I’m trying to be responsible.”

“Well, responsible is boring.”

“I know. I’m fine with being boring.”

The pout was wiped off his face. Kokichi stared at her with a wrinkled nose, staring as if she were that same rat from a moment earlier. “Did you seriously just try to lie to me? And I thought you were the smart one of the group.”

Tsumugi gulped, her palms growing sweaty as she turned to face the ball of anger in front of her. “... Sorry about that. I didn’t think I could get away with it, but it was worth a shot.”

A brief moment of silence passed before Kokichi sighed. “I was lying when I said responsible is boring. Why do you think I drive so carefully? It’s not because safety is boring.”

Tsumugi paused in thought, the headlights of a car nearby glinting off her glasses. “Why  _ do _ you drive so carefully? I expected you to be the one careening off cliffs and going past the speed limit, not the grandma driving like a turtle.”

“You know how you get to drive cars in crime games, and they encourage you to drive as recklessly as possible? Sometimes you get so bored you start driving responsibly just to see if you can do it.”

Something wasn’t adding up. From Kokichi’s overreaction to Rantarou joking about not doing his seatbelt to his insistence on driving as carefully as possible to him avoiding all traces of alcohol and people who drank it. There was just one more confirmation she needed to connect them all together, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

“I know it isn’t that,” Tsumugi said, taking note of the way Kokichi flinched at having his lie exposed. “You don’t like those video games for some reason. Can you tell me that reason?”

Kokichi stayed silent before turning to her with a smile. “Nope. Don’t worry your little boring head about it. I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He paused to tap her gently on the forehead.

“If you can’t tell me today, then when are you going to tell me?”

Kokichi seemed to ponder on the question. Tsumugi took the opportunity to continue.

“I know we’ve only known each other for two full years, but… I want you to trust me. Do you want to trust me?”

“... Yes.” And that was the complete truth and nothing but the truth.

“Then why can’t you?”

Kokichi bit at his finger, looking away from her. “Not yet. I want to trust you, but I can’t do it yet. Give me time. I’ve already given you some clues, so happy digging.”

“You have? Can you tell me what they were?”

“Nope.”

Tsumugi sighed but accepted the answer. “How much time do you think you need?”

“Enough time for me to get a PhD in lying.”

She cracked a smile and chuckled. “Good luck on writing your dissertation for that. I know I’m not worth much in this field, but—”

“I was trying to lighten the mood, and you pull  _ that _ on me?” Tears sprung to Kokichi’s eyes. “You don’t appreciate me trying to do something for you? You’re so mean!”

“Cry a bit quieter. We don’t want them to wake up.”

Kokichi’s tears disappeared as soon as they came. “Fine. But what makes you so sure you’re useless in lying if you keep lying to yourself?”

“You’re the liar here, not me.”

“I don’t know. I may be a big liar, but the person lying to themselves should be considered one, too.”

“What am I lying to myself about?”

All traces of lightheartedness was wiped from Kokichi’s face, and all that was left was a blank slate. “Telling yourself you don’t have worth, you don’t have talent, you’re useless. And most of all, telling yourself you’re content with that.”

“But that’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“No.”

Tsumugi scanned his face for any sign of a lie, but she couldn’t find any. All she could find was a face that was completely serious, one that didn’t match the person she had become familiar with. “But my only talent is making clothes, and I’m not even the best at that.”

“Just because you aren’t the best doesn’t mean you’re worthless. I’m not the best at anything besides lying, but I’m still interesting,” Kokichi said, picking at his nails. “But let’s say that wasn’t true. Even if you were one hundred percent boring with no redeeming qualities, this is your life. You need to take control of it, or it’ll control you. So what if you’re boring? What are you going to do about that? That’s what really matters.”

Tsumugi gave him a tight smile. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

“I am. Just think about it for a bit.”

She had already pondered on what his words from the moment he said them. “I never expected such inspirational words from a criminal mastermind.”

Kokichi chuckled as he set his feet on the dashboard of the car and crossed his arms behind his head. “As the leader of my organization, it’s a requirement to be good at persuasion. None of that was even true.”

It didn’t seem to be a lie, but Tsumugi would play along for now. She gave him a gentle smile. “Even if it was a lie, thank you. Your words really mean a lot to me.”

“Jeez, what are you doing, writing an email to an authority figure?” Kokichi whined. “I’m the farthest thing from an authority figure you’ll get, Tsu-chan. Don’t talk to me like one.”

“Oh? Then what do you want me to talk to you like?”

Kokichi opened his mouth to answer before closing it and setting his hands on the armrests to turn to Tsumugi with a proud smirk. “Looks like you’re the real criminal mastermind here. What are you doing, making me say all these stupid words?”

“But you didn’t say anything.” Judging by the smirk on her face, it was clear she chose her words carefully.

“You’re right, I didn’t. That was a lie.”

“That lie doesn’t make any sense. What were you lying about?”

“Everything. I’m not actually Kokichi Ouma. I’m actually a figment of your imagination.”

“Don’t hit me with plot twists at three AM. I’m too tired for this.”

“Then go to sleep, moron.” He flicked her on the head once more before leaning back in his chair. Anyone else would have said he was asleep now, but the smile on his face gave him away.

Tsumugi leaned back as well, covering herself with the blanket. “You’re not slick, Kichi-kun. But goodnight anyway.” She shut her eyes. The feeling of allowing her overworked eyes to close was the most satisfying thing she had felt in a while.

Just before she drifted to sleep, Kokichi had let out a quiet “Goodnight.”

 

* * *

 

Waking up early wasn’t a familiar feeling to Miu. Around the time she woke up today, she would have just gone to sleep in high school.

Miu squinted at her phone screen, cursing at the fact it was eight in the morning. Judging by the two knuckleheads in the front seats, she could have gotten at least a few more hours in before waking up. But then again, being asleep meant she was being unproductive…

The figure next to her rustled, and a yawn escaped him. His voice was sleepy, laced with fatigue. “Mi-san? You’re awake?”

Miu considered faking being asleep but threw the thought away. “Yeah. A face like mine doesn’t need beauty sleep.”

“Even if you’re beautiful, you still need to sleep. Don’t you know teens need ten hours of sleep a night?”

“We’re not teens anymore, Dickmami.”

“... What’s at the end of the number eighteen?”

Miu opened her mouth to protest against his logic but decided against it. “Whatever. I’m not a normal person. I ran on three hours a night all through high school.”

“Is that so?” Rantarou sat up, allowing the blanket to fall to his lap. He stared off into the distance, fixing his gaze on nothing in particular. His eyes were still glassy from sleep as the light returning to the town reflected off them. “That’s not very healthy. Sleep deprivation is serious, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I need to work. There’s no way a genius like me can afford to slow down. I have to be productive all hours of the day.”

“What about all those cat compilations Tsu-san sent you? I don’t think you were being too productive then.”

A pang of guilt hit her. “Yeah, I know, bitch. I need to make up for that.”

Finally, Rantarou turned to her. His eyebrows were wrinkled in confusion. “No, you don’t. Everyone deserves to watch cat videos once in a while.”

“But that takes way too much fucking time. It’s just like eating—”

“You weren’t eating?”

Miu flinched at the sudden increase in volume. “W-Well, I ate, obviously. I exercised too, but that’s about as much time as I wasted.”

“Eating… isn’t a waste of time,” Rantarou sighed. “Neither is exercise.”

“Well, aren’t you a fucking hypocrite?”

He blinked at the change in mood. “What do you mean?”

Miu straightened her posture, regaining confidence upon seeing the confused expression on his face. “I remember how you looked in sophomore year of high school. You had gray hairs and wrinkles like some kind of fucking grandpa. I don’t know about you, but high schoolers aren’t supposed to look like that.”

“Ha, remember that kid who had more white hairs than his dad who was a doctor? Poor guy. I think he’s doing better now, though.”

“But are you?”

Rantarou looked away, his eyes dulling. He left a moment of silence between them before speaking up. “Yes. I still have a bunch of sleep and food tracker apps on my phone. I couldn’t bring myself to delete them and I don’t use them anymore, but they really helped me get through my last years of high school. And you know what? I felt happier than I’ve ever been during our senior year.”

“Really?”

“Well, no. I’m happiest now, but that doesn’t change the fact they helped me get my health back on track.” Rantarou hesitated. “Can I touch your face?”

Miu’s jaw clenched, but she nodded.

He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before moving his knuckle under her eye and examining it. “The skin under your eyes is darker than even most high schoolers. Not to mention, your eyes always look tired. I think you deserve to sleep more.” He retracted his hand with a smile. “That’s just my opinion though. No need to follow my words.”

Miu tilted her head and pointed a finger forward. “Why do you always do that?”

“Always do what?”

“Back down from your opinion. It’s like you’re scared of something happening if somebody actually followed your advice.”

“Well… I am.”

“What fucking bullshit. Nothing bad’s gonna happen if I sleep more besides me losing productivity, which is a bitch, but I can understand.”

Rantarou furrowed his eyebrows and looked away. “Yeah, but imagine it in terms of something more subjective. If someone takes the wrong advice, their life might crash, and they’ll blame me.”

“Who the hell would blame you?”

“Too many people.” He faced her with a smile. “Anyway, I think that’s—”

“No.” Even though Miu’s voice was firm, it carried a waver. “I’m not letting you run away and change the subject like a little bitch.”

Rantarou’s smile turned bittersweet. “You choose now of all times to stand up for yourself? I guess I can’t blame you. I would want to know, too.”

“So? Are you gonna tell me?”

He paused, deep in thought, before speaking slowly. “Not today. Definitely someday if we continue being friends, but not today. Give it time.”

Then Miu hunched over, wrapping a hand around her stomach and twirling her hair around a finger. “T-Then… can you give me time, too? I’m not a fucking idiot, I know I don’t have a healthy sleep schedule. I just… can’t get myself to stop feeling guilty.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything else.”

“But I want to. Someday, but not today.”

Rantarou gave her a gentle smile and held his hand out. “Alright. I’m holding you to that.”

Miu snorted as she shook his hand. “Me too. If you die before telling me, I’m reviving you just to kill you again.”

“Aha, okay. I can agree to that.” He turned to face the bodies in the front seat, as did Miu.

The first body was the figure of Kokichi in the driver’s seat with a white blanket lined with blue fabric wrapped tightly around him. He was reclined in his seat with his body facing the door. His shoes were kicked off and arms and knees huddled near his chest. 

On the other side of the car, Tsumugi’s limbs were sprawled over the seat with her glasses still on. She had forgotten to take her shoes off, and the blanket over her barely covered her. Judging by its ruffled state, it had gotten thrown off sometime in the middle of the night. Still, her face and body were relaxed.

“Should we wake them up?” Rantarou whispered.

Miu leaned back in her seat. “Nah. Let them get their beauty sleep. They clearly need it.”

A low chuckle rumbled in Rantarou’s throat. He leaned back in his seat as well before taking a bag of chips out of the cooler between their seats. “Looks like we’re having a healthy breakfast today, Mi-san.”

Miu snickered as she fished another bag of chips out of the cooler. She tossed him a water bottle. “Stay hydrated, all that important shit.”

They spent the rest of their morning chewing as quietly as they can (and failing) and trying to see how long they could get away with spraying each other with water. It was far from the perfect morning, but it was enough for them.

 

* * *

The next time Tsumugi suggested a game was when they were on the road with Rantarou in the driver’s seat and her in the passenger’s seat with Miu and Kokichi arguing in the backseat. Even as she kept her stare on the fabric map on her lap, she couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation.

She tuned in right as Miu began to speak. “Are you fucking kidding me? That plan would never work! Everyone knows that bank has a shit ton of guards, you fucking moron.”

“Maybe, but what about on holidays?” Kokichi said, “There’s less guards, and those guards are more tired since they just want to go home. With them off their guard—”

“Nice pun, loser.”

“—down, getting into the vault would be pretty simple if you have the floor plan memorized.”

“I’m sorry, are you guys talking about robbing a bank?” Rantarou asked.

The two hummed in agreement.

“... So which bank?”

Miu shrugged. “The one right down the street from our high school. I don’t know why they thought putting a bank in front of a high school was a good idea, but they did it.”

Kokichi tsked and wagged a finger in front of her face. “Stupid Mi-chan. They probably put it to encourage high schoolers to miss school. With all the bank robberies that happened there and the bomb threats at our school, the local government was probably plotting to keep our school down in country ranking. You know, with all the stupid people there.” He retracted his finger when Miu chomped down on the space in front of it. “Jeez, what did I do now? At least have a good reason for biting me, you moron.”

“We’re not playing that stupid conspiracy game Shirobitch came up with,” Miu said, “What most likely happened was the city planners were a bunch of dumbasses.”

“I think they might have just been on a time limit. Our school was a result of urban sprawl, so they didn’t have much time to plan out the city effectively,” Rantarou offered.

“Too logical. We don’t need logic this early in the morning.”

“It… It’s two PM.”

“Meh.”

“Speaking of the conspiracy game,” Tsumugi said, picking up her phone and looking through the pages she had saved prior to going on the road trip. “There’s another game called ‘Don’t get me started.’ Somebody gives another person a random word, and that person has to go on an angry rant about whatever the word was. So if I gave Tarou-kun the prompt of fabric, he has to go on an angry rant about that.”

Miu’s eyes lit up. “So it’s basically bitching about shit?”

“We all already know Mi-chan takes the first place prize for that,” Kokichi snickered.

The underlying insult flew straight over Miu’s head. “Alright, assholes, give me a topic.”

Tsumugi’s gaze darted around the car, looking for an appropriate object. “Uh… how about chips?”

Kokichi rolled his eyes, crumpling the empty bag of chips in his hands. “Wow, so creative, Tsu-chan. There totally wasn’t a more interesting thing you could’ve suggested.”

“Okay, I get it, I messed up.”

Still, Miu’s eyes blazed with fury. She snatched the bag out of Kokichi’s hands with her face scrunched into a scowl, making Kokichi’s eyes widen for a split second. “These goddamn piece of shit chip bags, I swear to god, I can go on for fucking hours about how inefficient they are. I’ve got nothing to say about the actual chips in them, but the bags, holy shit. Seeing all the fucking air inside them makes me wanna smack a bitch. Seriously, are you fucking paying for air?”

“There was that one video where someone just got a bag full of air with no chips,” Rantarou mused.

“Exactly! What the hell is wrong with these stupid ass manufacturers? And why are they so loud, too? They’ve got no fucking business being so crinkley and shit. Everytime I tried to open a bag of chips in class, they won’t shut the fuck up, and now everyone’s flocking towards me like a bunch of thirsty bitches and asking for a piece. Or in a movie theater when I’m just trying to watch a movie, but ten thousand people give me this nasty glare like I wronged them in the past or something. This is bullshit, I fucking tell you.”

“I think what truly makes your argument is how angry you are. I can feel the anger from behind my seat.”

“I  _ am _ angry, you green dipshit!” Miu snapped, “I swear, the design of these chip bags are a fucking disgrace to humanity. We deserve better than this goddamn bullshit.” And she wasn’t lying. The blazing fury in her eyes and her red, scrunched face was something not even the best actor could replicate. Her grip on Rantarou’s seat was so tight he was wary he would be the next target.

“Why don’t you write a strongly-worded letter to the company?” Tsumugi asked. “If we get enough people doing it, I’m sure they’ll make a change to their design.”

Kokichi shook his head and sighed. “Oh, Tsu-chan. You’re so innocent. So, so naive.”

“What? Weren’t you the one who called electricity companies and pretended another company was offering a discount to lower the electricity bill?”

“What does that have to do with naivety?”

“Fuck your electricity bill and your naivety, I’m pissed as hell,” Miu fumed, leaning back in her seat with her arms crossed. “Anyway, who’s next?”

Tsumugi smiled. “I don’t think anyone could top  _ that _ performance.”

“Fuck you. I need a fucking cigarette.” Miu reached into the cooler and took out a bottle of soda, gulping half of it down in the span of a few seconds. 

“Did you enjoy your cigarette?” Kokichi asked.

“Yeah, especially since it wasn’t your crappy purple shit.”

“Did you just diss Panta? I thought we were friends!”

“You thought wrong, bitch.”

As the two continued their argument, Tsumugi sighed and sewed another hole into the fabric map.

Oh well. She tried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was very hard for me to write emotionally. please excuse the drop in quality for this chapter and please understand that I do not mean to insult Korean culture here. insulting my own culture would be very unproductive. anyway heres the end notes:
> 
> Block game: Gonggi! it's a traditional Korean game typically played by children (though you still see a lot of adults playing it too lol). you throw a block in the air, catch it, then repeat until you have every block in your hand.
> 
> Drinking: dont fucking listen to me, im underage. i have no clue what im talking about
> 
> Eonni: Korean for big sister.
> 
> Braveheart Capital: The combination of two characters' canon high school names from ndrv3.
> 
> The kid with white hairs: so this was actually a guy at my school. I never saw him, but a ton of people have told me about him. poor guy
> 
> thank you for staying with me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The greatest part of a road trip isn't arriving at the destination."

“Hey, Amacunt, where the hell are we going next?” Miu asked, propping her feet up on the seatbase between Rantarou and Tsumugi. She scowled and put her feet back on the floor when Tsumugi elbowed her.

“I think we’re going to Arlington Castle,” Rantarou said, “It’s one of the oldest castles in the country. That’s not saying much, considering we don’t have a lot of castles, but it’s something.”

Kokichi’s face brightened. “We’re going to a castle? With a king and everything?”

“Well, they  _ had _ a king in the past. Seeing as how it’s a tourist destination now, it’s safe to say there’s no king left there anymore.”

“Soon.”

Tsumugi stopped. “... That’s so ominous, what does that mean?”

Miu snorted and popped a strip of gum into her mouth. “Does this have to do with your shitty king horse thing? What are you gonna do, run in there neighing or some shit?”

“I don’t need to hear that from the person who thought jackhammering your way into a bank without taking any other precautions was a good idea,” Kokichi said.

Miu’s chewing stopped as her jaw fell open. “Bitch, it  _ is _ a good idea!”

“It really, really isn’t, and I’m not lying about that.”

“And I’m not lying when I say you’re three seconds away from an ass beating if you keep up that smug shit.”

“What are you gonna do, stop talking to me? Your mouth can’t stay closed for that long.”

“Is that a fucking challenge?”

“Maybe.”

“Fine! Fuck you!” Miu looked away with crossed arms and turned towards the window, the only sound in the car being the sound of her chewing and the soft melody of an unfamiliar Disney song.

Two minutes passed before Tsumugi broke the silence.

“Okay, Mi-san, we get it. It’s getting a bit awkward without you talking.”

Miu raised an eyebrow but spat her gum out into the wrapper and tossed it into the plastic bag hanging off the back of Rantarou’s chair. “Fine. Tell me about the castle shit.”

Tsumugi looked down at her phone screen. “There’s not a lot of credible information on it, but there were only two generations that lived there before the people rebelled and tried to burn it down. Obviously, fire doesn’t work on stone, but the ruling family was still executed via whipping. Apparently they weren’t dignified enough for a proper beheading.” 

“... Damn.”

“Yeah. The people of Arlington didn’t mess around.”

“I love how we choose to honor the memory of the Arlington people by making crappy souvenirs and putting a gift shop in the castle they hated,” Rantarou said, though the tension in the corner of his smile made it clear he did not love it.

Kokichi turned away, biting his thumb, before plastering his usual smile on his face. “Of course we would. Why do you think there’s so many ghosts there?”

“Ghosts? I don’t remember hearing about them last time I went there. Are you lying?”

“Nishishi! I—”

“He’s right,” Tsumugi cut in, her smile sly. “There have been people reporting supernatural occurrences there.”

“Translation?” Miu asked.

“Spooky."

“Ah, yes, thanks.”

“I was lying, but thanks for backing up my point, Tsu-chan,” Kokichi said with a more genuine smile.

Rantarou shook his head but chuckled. “You learn something new every day, I guess. Does it even count as a lie if it’s true?”

“It was intended as a lie, but was factually true,” Tsumugi said, “So no, I don’t think it counts.”

Kokichi pouted, sticking his bottom lip out. “Are you seriously trying to rob me of my ultimate liar title? I thought we were friends.”

“Don’t worry,” Rantarou laughed, “None of us really want to take that role from you. You can have it for as long as you like.”

Kokichi’s eyes sparkled. “Really? Then I can lie to everyone?”

“I mean, technically—”

Kokichi rolled down the windows of the car and poked his head out of the window. “I love the color pink!” He plopped back down in his chair and closed the window with a smug smirk.

Miu gawked at him. “What the fuck did you just say about pink? What did pink ever do to you?”

“Nothing, I just hate you.”

“Well, fuck you too!”

Tsumugi sighed and turned to Rantarou. “Did you really have to egg them on like that? You do realize we have to listen to that for the rest of the three hours there, right?”

Rantarou only shrugged and reached out to turn a knob, cranking the music up. The music almost blocked out the argument, giving them the illusion of peace for at least a moment.

 

* * *

 

The castle wasn’t a popular destination spot in the summer. That would explain the dreary atmosphere as they walked into the castle.

The castle had been restored to its full state just a few years ago, and it showed with the grand stone walls and red carpet lining the floors. Fake torches were stuck onto the walls for show, though electric lighting had been installed. Burn marks still decorated the walls. Red tapes were arranged everywhere, blocking civilian access to perhaps one of the more important parts of their country’s history. The castle resembled a museum, ensuring the rebellion that happened there would never be forgotten.

Miu snorted as they walked into the part of the castle reserved for the long dining table. Information was given to them in the form of plaques on the wall. “Do we really have learn about history of all things? Who cares about all this old shit?”

Tsumugi gave an apologetic smile to an elderly couple nearby before turning to Miu. “Mi-san, I get that you think history is boring, but we should probably respect Arlington Castle. There’s still descendants of the Arlington people that live in the area. I would refrain from insults for now.”

“... S-Sorry,” Miu mumbled, ducking her head.

“Hey, Mi-chan, it’s you,” Kokichi said, pointing at a painting of a pig.

“Oh, fuck you.”

“Right after I finished giving Mi-san a lecture on respect,” Tsumugi sighed, shaking her head.

Rantarou shrugged as they walked out of the room to another section of the castle. “Tsu-san, there’s a display of all the outfits the archaeologists discovered. Do you want to go there?”

To his word, a display rack of the Arlington outfits was set along the wall of one room of the castle. They were separated based on class with the royalty to the right and peasants to the left. They looked standard to how typical Medieval outfits looked, but a few seams were ripped and burn marks dotted them.

“It’s amazing how they still got silk over here even without stuff like airplanes,” Rantarou said, squinting at the placard. “Meanwhile, some of us can’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded.”

Miu narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you fucking vagueing at me, you avocado?”

Rantarou stopped before turning to meet her glare. “Yes, I  _ am _ vagueing at you.”

Exercise was a point of contention between them ever since Rantarou caught her gasping for air after they speed-walked across the school. Rantarou had tried to get her to exercise with him after finding out just how out of shape she was, but Miu was too stubborn to admit there was a problem. And now they stood at a stalemate, neither unwilling to back down.

Tsumugi and Kokichi exchanged concerned glances. Neither of the two worked out as much as Rantarou did or were as sedentary as Miu, and as petty as both of them were, neither wanted to be involved in the argument between the two.

So Kokichi pulled on Rantarou’s arm and pointed at a framed map on the wall. “Look, Ran-chan! There’s one of those old-timey maps you like so much.”

Tsumugi tugged on the cuff of Miu’s shirt, gesturing towards a pulley system next to the case of outfits. “Mi-san, I think you’ll like seeing this.”

And with that, they had managed to avoid another conflict. They gave a nod to each other before they reunited, and their conversation turned back to the castle.

Evening came soon, and the end of their time at the castle came with it. Only a few people remained. The castle was eerily empty, the sound of their footsteps against the stone floor being the only sound they could hear. Their last destination was to the statue of the leader of the peasants, the one who had organized the group to take down their oppressors once and for all.

The leader’s name was unknown, but the bronze statue that remained of them was far from it. Instead of them riding a stallion or holding a sword or something reminiscent of a war hero, the leader held the hands of two children with a kind smile. Details of the leader were murky, but historians made of Arlington what they could.

It prompted Tsumugi into deep thought. Could she ever be a leader like the Arlington leader who had led the most successful uprising in history? Perhaps not, but could she even compare to her friends? Most obviously, Kokichi was the one responsible for their cheating ring back in high school and was the one who had brought their friend group together in the first place. Rantarou was a sort of leader to his sisters, something like a knight in shining armor. Sure, they would grow up and realize their older brother wasn’t as infallible as he seemed, but it didn’t erase the years he spent caring for them like an emperor to his people. And Miu’s entire talent revolved around her being a leader and taking charge in everything she did.

It was scary being the only person in her friend group without a discernible talent in leadership. When had she become so self-conscious of that?

Kokichi tilted his head inquisitively. “You’re thinking too loud, Tsu-chan. What’s up?”

And with that, the other two turned to her, and Tsumugi cursed him for picking up on her mood so quickly.

“Nothing,” she said, staring ahead.

Kokichi frowned and puffed out his cheeks. He stood directly in front of her. “Come oooon, Tsu-chan. Let us help you.”

A command can never be a lie.

Tsumugi’s throat dried, and she took the leap forward. “Do you… Do you guys think I can ever be a leader? An inspiration like the Arlington leader was?”

“Of course,” Rantarou said without so much as a pause between their words. “You’re a naturally influential person, Tsu-san.”

“... I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

Miu set an elbow on her shoulder. “Just logic the shit out of it for a bit. You have thousands of followers on social media because of your cosplay. You bragged about some of your ideas becoming fanon, whatever the fuck that means. That has to mean something to you, or I’ll eat my left tit.”

Kokichi rolled his eyes before flinging Miu off Tsumugi and taking her place. “The bitch has a point. You’re influencing the world in small ways. Just because it’s not everywhere doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“I mean… is fandom really that important to people though?” Tsumugi asked. “I’m not changing lives or anything like you three have and will. It’s insignificant.”

Silence.

“Take a look at us,” Rantarou said, “and tell me again that your reach is insignificant.”

The three stood before her like knights reporting to their king.

To her very right was Kokichi Ouma, the mystery she thought she would never solve. The smile he acknowledged her with was still as sly and smug as ever but with a certain warmth behind it that couldn’t have been present two years ago. He chose to reveal some aspects of himself to her and left some hidden, perhaps for her to piece together in the future.

Miu Iruma stood in the middle, tall and proud as ever. But there was a time Tsumugi knew her to not be so proud, back when Tsumugi had to practically drag her kicking and screaming to face her inferiority complex at the anime convention they had attended two years prior. Back when she used insults as a mask. Now, those insults had turned into a sort of treasured nickname.

And last but not least, Rantarou Amami was at the very right of the line, giving her the same carefree smile he possessed in high school, yet not sealing mountains of stress behind it. The bags under his eyes, while still present, didn’t take up half his face. His eyes were noticeably brighter. While there were still some things that were inevitably hidden, that was only to be expected.

But then Tsumugi took a long look at herself. Tsumugi Shirogane, the person. Tsumugi Shirogane, the designer. Tsumugi Shirogane, the cosplayer. But most importantly, Tsumugi Shirogane, the friend.

They were right. Sometimes the smallest actions were the most impactful.

“Thank you,” Tsumugi said, her voice soft and full with as much affection as she could muster.

Kokichi wrinkled his nose. “Ew! Why do you sound so sentimental?”

“Because I am.”

“Yeah! Don’t question it, purple bastard,” Miu growled, flicking him on the forehead.

“Who are you calling purple bastard, pink bitch?”

“Who are you calling pink bitch, hell midget?”

“Who are you—”

The two burst into argument for what seemed like the thousandth time since the trip started, and Tsumugi could only chuckle at them while Rantarou tried interjecting, failing at trying to make them lower their voices.

But she couldn’t complain. That was just how her family was.

 

* * *

 

Their next destination, the Arlington Beach, was just a few miles away from Arlington Castle. Boulders and shells were scattered on the grainy, yellow sand. A green flag waved in the gentle winds. No sound other than the waves crashing onto the shores and the songs of shorebirds were present. It was late at night. The sunset had already passed, and the sky was a dark blue, but not quite dark enough to obscure vision.

Four people stepped onto the beach, their feet sinking and toes curling in the sand. They made no movement to walk in the water, only standing near enough for the water to barely reach the tips of their toes.

“You know,” Miu began, her voice soft and low. “I never would’ve thought I would make it here.”

“In a physical or metaphorical sense?” Tsumugi asked.

“I have no clue what that means.”

“It means what you want it to mean.”

“Can you at least try being less cryptic, asshole?”

Rantarou cut in the conversation, but his gaze remained on the ocean shoreline. “It’s… kind of scary to think it takes just one wave to drag us all into the ocean and drown us. I know the green flag is flying, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been mistakes before. The ocean is an unpredictable beast.”

Miu took a few steps away from the water and snorted. “Nice going, dickbag. Way to remind us we can die at any time.”

“But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Life is fleeting. I think it’s good to look back and think about what we’re doing with our time.” He kicked a pebble into the water. “Did we spend it being as happy as we could, or did we waste it on settling for the bare minimum?”

“What do you even mean by the bare minimum?”

“It means what you want it to mean.”

“Aw, fuck you.”

“Jeez, you sound like one of those crappy, cliche life coaches,” Tsumugi scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“So a total normie?”

A ghost of a smile danced on her lips. “Right.”

Miu tore her gaze away from the water to glance at the person sitting next to her. “Hey, Oumoron, what are you thinking?”

Kokichi’s arms were crossed and huddled close to his stomach. His face was blank. “This is our turning around point, right? We’re on our way back home after this.”

“... Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that.”

Over the week they had been on their trip, the concept of going back home was always present in the back of their minds as an afterthought, but the full impact of the realization only hit them after the grim reminder. Time passed, with or without them, just as the sun set and rose no matter what happened. And with another few cycles of sunsets and sunrises, they would go back to the same suffocating city they had grown up in.

Kokichi slowly raised his foot before driving it into the sand, chucking a heap of sand at Miu. “Nishishi! Watch out, my beloved bitch!”

“Fucking asshole! Come back here, you fucking shitty twink!” Miu shouted, wiping the sand off her foot with her other foot and bending down to pick up a ball of sand. She chased after Kokichi, who had began his escape down the beach. She hurled the ball, only for the wind to pick up and hit Rantarou right in the face.

Rantarou wiped the sand off his face with a laugh. He picked up another ball of sand. “Heads up, Mi-san!” He hurled the ball of sand forward.

Miu ducked right as Kokichi made his return back to the group. The sand hit him in the shoulder, landing on his white outfit.

“Oh? Are you challenging the sand master to a sand fight?” Kokichi asked, a playful twinkle in his eyes. “Challenge accepted!”

“Your clothes are going to get dirty,” Tsumugi said, stepping away from the battle with a laugh.

Miu stared at her before rushing forward and knocking her feet out from under her, sending her crashing into the sand. “Whose clothes are dirty now— Fuck!” 

A hand wrapped around her ankle and dragged her down to the sand. Tsumugi’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she scurried to get back up. “It’s still your clothes.”

“Touche, motherfucker.” Miu stood back up, and both Rantarou and Kokichi crashed into her.

Their sand fight continued as the waves crashed onto the beach, and the moon made its ascent. The stars joined and hung from the sky like ceiling lights. They were high in the sky when the four left Arlington Beach with a better, happier history.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "A true friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you today, just the way you are."

Tsumugi wrinkled her nose as she picked another grain of sand out of her skirt. “I can’t believe you three actually thought having a sand fight was a good idea. Don’t you know sand gets everywhere?”

“Don’t leave that in the car,” Rantarou said, his gaze still on the road ahead of him.

“Fine, I won’t.” She rolled the window down a few inches before dropping the grain of sand out of the car and rolling the window back up again. “I’m still mad at you for pushing me on the sand, Mi-san.”

Miu snorted. “Yeah, because that makes so much sense for the bitch who dragged me down to hell with her.”

“I would hardly call a beach hell.”

“There’s sand in my underwear.”

“None of us needed to know that.”

“The real hell is here on Earth with Mi-chan,” Kokichi said. He pouted as he picked a grain of sand out of his scarf and dropped it into the plastic bag hanging off the passenger’s seat. “Did you really have to get the scarf dirty, Ran-chan? Didn’t you spend a ton of effort on it?”

Rantarou shrugged. “I know for a fact you got Tsu-san to make you a copy in case you lost it or something.”

“No, I didn’t. How could you accuse me of such a thing?”

“Because it’s true.”

“Shush.” Kokichi looked up at the map displayed on Rantarou’s phone. “Where are we heading next?”

Tsumugi looked down at her phone. “I believe we’re going to the Pure Grove next. It’s an ancient temple. It’s right in the middle of tourist season, so I’m not sure if we can have the temple to ourselves.”

“What, you don’t like people?”

“Nope. Not in the slightest.”

“Wow, okay, so that means you don’t like me.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t think you can really be counted as a person.”

Kokichi fell back in his seat, his chest heaving as he let out heavy sobs. “R-Ran-chan! Tsu-chan’s bullying me!”

Rantarou only shrugged as Miu held her hand out for a high-five, only to be left hanging.

Miu scoffed and leaned back in her seat with crossed arms. “You guys are all boring fuckers. Who the hell leaves a friend hanging?”

No one answered.

 

* * *

 

The Pure Grove looked much less pure with the tourists flooding the area, but the light brown walls of the temple were still visible. The temple housed a roof and three walls. The fourth wall was left as four pillars supporting the roof. A wide staircase led up to the inside of the temple, where intricate carvings and remnants of paintings remained. It felt almost as if they were intruding into a private space no one should be occupying.

“I can’t believe they found my private base and made it a tourist spot,” Kokichi said, immediately ducking to avoid a swipe from Miu.

“Come on, at least try to honor the history here,” Rantarou mumbled. “But good joke, that was a good seven out of ten.”

“Not even a ten out of ten? Sad.”

As the three continued arguing amongst themselves, Tsumugi zoned out. Their conversation dissolved into the roar of the audience around them, and her surroundings blurred into a palette of colors. Then two girls were outlined in a glowing white like interactable objects in a video game.

“Look, I’m a native Grovian,” one of the girls mocked, holding a poorly made cape over her shoulders and posing. The light inside the temple reflected off the plastic leaves it was made of, shooting the light directly into Tsumugi’s eyes.

Tsumugi scrunched her eyes shut before daring to open them again.

The other girl, a brunette with glasses, giggled. “Can you imagine trying to make clothes out of leaves? Why not make it out of animal furs like everyone else?”

“I know, right? Grovians were so stupid.”

The outlines around the two figures disappeared as quickly as they came, and they blurred back into the color palette. The roar of the audience grew louder and louder, so loud Tsumugi could barely take it.

They were treating the past as if it was just another piece of fiction. Like the people of the past were just fictional characters. As if following that narrative wasn’t a destructive way of thinking about the world.

It was like looking into a mirror from two years ago.

Tsumugi’s fists were clenched, and her chest rose up and down as she struggled to contain her anger. “Hey, can we get out of the temple away from everyone else? Please?”

The only person who noticed her quiet words was Kokichi, who glanced down at her trembling fists before locking eyes with her. He looked away, but not before grabbing her hand and pointing to the empty picnic area. “Tsu-chan! Tsu-chan! I wanna go over there!”

His shouts were loud enough to catch the attention of Miu and Rantarou, who turned around just as Kokichi started sprinting towards the picnic tables.

Thankfully, the picnic tables were nearby enough for Tsumugi to not feel as if she was dying when she ran for it. She took a seat on the right side of the table as Kokichi settled in next to her and Rantarou and Miu sat across from her, varying degrees of worry on their faces. No one spoke for some time before Rantarou broke the silence.

“Tsu-san? Is there anything that happened?”

Tsumugi bit her lip, and her hand so tightly around her wrist her knuckles grew into a sickening shade of white. Logically, there was nothing that should have made her so angry. It was just a few people (ignorant people, yes, but still people) speaking to each other about how they perceive the culture. She hadn’t even been included in the conversation. Her anger was illogical but still present. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out.

Kokichi elbowed her side with a chuckle. “Come on, Tsu-chan, it doesn’t have anything to do with those people saying really offensive things, does it?” 

Bullseye. Judging by the smirk on his face, he knew it, too.

Miu took Tsumugi’s silence as a yes. “So? They weren’t harassing you, right? You can just ignore it.”

“No, I can’t,” Tsumugi croaked, her fists tightening again. “I just can’t.”

“Weren’t you a weeaboo or some shit? You should be used to some misinformed motherfuckers.”

“I’m not! I can’t get used to it!” She took a deep breath and relaxed her voice upon seeing Miu flinch. “Sorry. You didn’t deserve that. I’m just really, really mad.”

Rantarou hesitated before speaking. “As much as I hate to say it, Mi-san has a point. You really have no reason to hate someone you’ve never talked to before, but I understand you do. So is there anything we can do now?”

Tsumugi paused, thinking. What had happened already happened, there was no changing that. If this was an anime, her character would monologue about the past while flashbacks played in the background before plastering on a mask and pretending everything was fine.

But this was not an anime, this was real life. She could not be the character she so desperately longed to be two years ago, nor did she want to be. These were her friends, and she had no motive for keeping information from them.

“I… I’ve been through a lot,” Tsumugi said, her voice and gaze low. “Not quite as much as the character who seems like an antagonist but ends up being redeemed, but still a lot, and I think I can acknowledge that now.”

Kokichi frowned. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’m not the angsty guy brooding in the corner. I’m the angsty guy  _ monologuing _ in the corner.”

“Tsu-chan.”

Despite the heavy atmosphere, Tsumugi still found it in herself to smile as she drew squares on the table with her finger in an almost wistful way. “When I was younger, I used to put a lot of things into boxes. Literally. My mom and I moved a lot for reasons she still won’t tell me. And since we moved a lot, I had to get good at packing. That’s why I can pack for a convention in less than an hour. I don’t know, but I’m pretty proud of that skill.”

“We get it, Shittygane, you’re good at packing,” Miu said.

“Fine, I’ll move on.” She paused to push her glasses up. “Anyway, all of my childhood was of physically putting things into boxes. And then I discovered anime in middle school—”

“Horrible decision, really,” Kokichi snickered.

Tsumugi sighed but neither confirmed nor denied it. A smile made its way to her face. “Then I discovered there were all these little boxes you could fit characters into. And there were different boxes depending on which other box called genre it was in. Oblivious, innocent protagonist in a harem. Jaded soldier who ends up dying for the young protagonist. All of the -dere types… None of you have any idea what I’m talking about.”

The three shook their heads.

“Anyway, that was the beginning of me oversimplifying stuff. Then when we started learning about world history in seventh grade, I…”

“Take your time,” Rantarou said.

Tsumugi scrunched her eyes shut in shame. “I may or may not have written fanfiction about different world leaders during that time. And fanfiction of historical figures in tenth grade. And fanfiction of our classmates throughout all those years.”

Silence.

“I mean, was it good?” Miu asked, to which both Kokichi and Rantarou shot her a look. “What? It’s a valid question.”

Tsumugi could feel her cheeks heating up and desperately fanned at her face. “A-Anyway, that’s all the hints I’m giving you. Either piece it together or move on. Ugh, this is so embarrassing… you normies wouldn’t understand.”

The three’s gazes flickered over to each other, slowly but steadily piecing it together.

Putting things into boxes was a way of oversimplifying things, according to her. And apparently she had done so to historical figures. If she had felt attacked by what those two girls had said, that must’ve meant… 

“They reminded you of yourself?” Kokichi asked.

Miu slammed a fist on the table. “Damn it! I was gonna say you wanted to have a threesome with them, but I guess not. Fucking virgins.”

Rantarou squinted his eyes at her. “I’m sorry, but how do you even come to that conclusion with those clues? I’m genuinely curious.”

“Comes with being a genius."

“Right.”

Tsumugi took a deep breath. “Of course you pieced it together first, you purple normie. Yes, they reminded me of myself two years ago. No, I don’t want a threesome with them. Sounds like you’re projecting, Mi-san.”

Miu pouted while Kokichi snickered and elbowed her.

“But you’ve changed a lot,” Rantarou said, “Why would they bother you like that?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Guess I’m not as far into my development arc as I thought I would be…”

Kokichi tilted his head and stared at her with a face that was too innocent to truly be so. “Maybe, but that’s how you analyze a character, not a human. Humans are in flow all the time. They don’t follow a linear character arc like in most works of fiction.”

Tsumugi smiled and shut her eyes. She was really starting to regret making friends with smart people and allowing herself to be read like an open textbook under their desks during tests.

“Hit the nail on the head, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tsumugi said, her voice soft.

“Well, I don’t know what to do with this information other than say we’re still here for you, or whatever sentimental shit you all feel like saying,” Miu grumbled. She reached over with a shaky hand, and the grouchy scowl on her face softened into a worried whimper. “I-I’m not kidding this time. I’m actually… proud of you for making it this far. Ugh. I hate this.”

Tsumugi’s heart jumped. She took the hand, rubbing her thumb against the gloves she had made herself less than a year ago. “I really am lucky to have you guys as friends.”

“Booooring!” Kokichi said, blowing a raspberry as he stood up. “I wanna go explore the rest of this place. Come on, Ran-chan, let’s leave these two losers behind.”

Rantarou blinked. “Why do you always choose—”

Kokichi dragged him away from the table before he could finish his sentence. They disappeared into the crowd.

The scowl returned on Miu’s face. “Come on, Tittygane! We can’t let those virgins win!”

“Alright, alright, I’m up,” Tsumugi laughed. The laughter was cut off when she was suddenly dragged into the crowd.

Still, she threw another box of oversimplifications into the fire. Three lighter, incomprehensible shapes threw themselves at her while she did so, as if vying for her attention.

Slowly but surely, they became less and less incomprehensible. And she was certain the others could see the boxes as well.

 

* * *

 

There was something about being woken up at two in the morning after a long day of driving that evoked the worst in humanity. Rantarou was no exception to this rule, though he was a bit more concerned than angry at the trembling figure next to him.

Rantarou sat up in the bed of the motel, rubbing his eyes as he clicked a lamp on. His blurred vision settled on the ball of purple and white next to him. “Kichi-kun? Are you cold?”

Kokichi stared petrified at the ceiling, though he managed to plaster on a grin. “Good morning, Ran-chan! Nope, it’s not cold. There’s just a ghost in the room.”

“... A ghost. You don’t seem like the type of person that would believe in ghosts.”

“Okay, maybe not a ghost. A demon, more like.”

Rantarou gave him the same deadpan stare. “A demon?”

“Yes, a demon!” Kokichi sat up with glittering eyes as he gestured with his hands. “I can feel an evil spirit in this room. It’s crawling on the ceiling, looking down at us as if we’re ants to a god.”

“Nice simile,” Rantarou mused. He looked up at the ceiling, squinting at the tiny black dot on the ceiling. He pointed a finger at it. “That? A spider? Is that the demon?”

“It’s not just any old demon, it’s a demon that’s plagued the country for centuries! Watch out, Ran-chan, you might get bit and turn into a demon yourself!”

“A better fate than being here with you.”

“Wow, okay.” Kokichi’s lips drooped down into a pout. “I see how it is. And here I was thinking we were friends.”

Rantarou shrugged as he snatched a tissue out of the tissue box set on the drawer. “Nothing to worry about. I doubt a spider as small as this can do much damage.” He yawned before standing up on the bed and jumping up to crush the spider.

He missed.

To his credit, Kokichi didn’t scream. Instead of screaming, he took one look at black dot in the folds of the blankets before rolling out of bed and locking himself in the bathroom without a word. Light from the slit underneath the bathroom door seeped into the bedroom.

Rantarou caught the black dot and tossed it in the trash can. He knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, Kichi-kun, you can come out now. The spider’s gone. Nothing to be afraid of.”

It took a moment for Kokichi to respond. “I wasn’t afraid of it. I was afraid of the demon living inside of it.”

“Well, the demon’s gone, too. It’s gone with the spider.” A low chuckle rumbled in his throat. “I have to say, I never expected you of all people to be afraid of bugs. You’ve never showed any fear of them before.”

“I told you, I’m not afraid of bugs. You’re the one that’s afraid of losing everyone.”

Well, that escalated quickly.

“You are, too.”

The two fell silent, both knowing it was a fair accusation but also knowing the conversation had taken a sudden turn for the worst. It was a blind shot in the dark, yet it had hit its target with the accuracy of a trained hunter.

Rantarou knocked on the door again. “If you think calling out my weaknesses will make me leave you in the bathroom by yourself, you’re wrong. Nothing you do will any of us leave you by yourself. So why do you keep trying to push me away?”

“... Look! I found used condoms in the—”

“You’re the one who started this conversation. You have to stick with it, no matter how much you don’t like it.”

“I’m not lying though, there’s actually used condoms in the trash can.” Another pause. “You aren’t those condoms, Ran-chan. You’re not going to be thrown away or lose worth when time passes.”

“Did… Did you just compare me to a condom?”

“I  _ contrasted _ you to a condom. Huge difference.”

Rantarou couldn’t help but allow a laugh to escape him. “We should wake Mi-san up for this. She would love it.”

“Have you tried waking Mi-chan up before?” Kokichi snorted. Rantarou could almost imagine the eye roll following his question. “It’s hell. One time, she rolled over and crushed me, and I couldn’t even do anything because she was too heavy.”

“So you’re physically weak?”

“No, I’m not. I can punch a hole through this door right now.”

Rantarou cringed at the thought of having to pay damage fees. “Please don’t.”

“Alright,” Kokichi sang, “But only because I love my beloved Ran-chan sooo much!”

“But you know…” Rantarou’s lips straightened into a tight line. “There’s nothing wrong with that. We’re all people, we have our strengths and weaknesses. I don’t know if you were deluding yourself into thinking you didn’t count as a person or were somehow lesser than us, but being physically weak and being afraid of bugs is more common than you think it is.”

“And what would you know about that?”

“Probably more than you.”

“Nuh uh! My organization has ten thousand more people than you’ve ever known in your life,” Kokichi said, “They could kill you if you keep making fun of me.”

Rantarou raised an eyebrow. “You thought I was making fun of you? Being afraid of bugs is a real thing, I’m not going to make fun of you for something you can’t control.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not just saying that so you won’t lose another person?”

Rantarou paused in thought. He had lost someone before, and the visceral fear that shocked him into inaction was powerful enough to continue haunting him into the present. But did his fear have more of an impact on his actions than his need to help someone dear to him? Could he put Kokichi’s fear above his own?

“No, I’m not just saying that,” Rantarou said. “I really mean it.”

A few seconds passed before Kokichi unlocked the door and slowly turned the knob, pushing the door open carefully. He flicked the light off and faced Rantarou. “There was another demon in there. You might want to bring some holy water this time.”

Rantarou smiled, knowing Kokichi would have immediately run out of the room if there was a bigger spider in the bathroom with him. “Alright, I’ll go get rid of it. You should get some sleep now. You’re the one in the front with Miu tomorrow.”

“Alright, fine, Mom.” Kokichi rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help the smile breaking to his face. He jumped into bed and pulled the sheets over himself, letting out an exaggerated yawn. “Goodnight, Ran-chan. If the bed bugs bite, you’re dead.”

“You can’t be killed if you’ve been dead for the past nineteen years,” Rantarou said as he tucked himself into bed as well. “Goodnight to you too, Kichi-kun.”

And with that, the lamp turned off, and the room was left in darkness and stillness once more.

 

* * *

Miu woke up to the sound of blankets rustling and the right side of the bed suddenly becoming lighter as if something was moving off it. The figure’s feet landed on the floor with a thump.

When the figure turned the lamp on and put their glasses on, Miu recognized it immediately. “Hey, Shittygane, fuck do you think you’re doing at…” She squinted at the bold red numbers of the alarm clock on the drawer. “... fucking three-thirty in the morning?”

Tsumugi jumped at the sudden voice but relaxed upon recognizing it. “Oh, Mi-san. I was about to head out to buy some more supplies for us. There’s a convenience store within walking distance that’s open twenty-four hours a day.”

“You don’t have to sound like you’re in a zombie apocalypse, you know. You could just say snacks.”

Tsumugi furrowed her eyebrows and opened her mouth as if she was going to refute the accusation but stopped. “Well, I suppose that’s accurate. Would you care to go with me?”

Miu stopped to think. While the warmth of the bed was alluring and her eyes begged for another five minutes of sleep, the prospect of buying snacks at a shady convenience store with her best friend was somehow more attractive of an experience. She sighed and sat up on the bed. “Fine. Let me get dressed first.”

“Oh, we aren’t getting dressed. That would immediately wake up Kichi-kun.” She paused. “Actually, I don’t know how he’s not awake right now.”

“I am,” came his voice from the other side of the room.

Tsumugi froze. “You’re awake.”

The sheets rustled, and the sound of a low groan was muted. “I’ll tell Ran-chan you got kidnapped. Don’t forget to leave a ransom note.” And with that, the voice was silenced and replaced with a light snore.

“Little shit,” Miu grumbled as she scrawled a note on the brochure the motel provided in the drawers. She stuck it on the drawer next to Rantarou before sliding her shoes on and turning to Tsumugi with her hands on her hips. “Well? Are we going or not?”

Tsumugi blinked. “You’re actually going along with this?”

“Do you have money?”

“Yes, I have my wallet in my pocket, but—”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I’m not, um…” Tsumugi took a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to spend time with me and not just go back to sleep?”

Miu faced her with a deadpan expression, squinting her eyes as if Tsumugi had told her fish was falling from the sky. “Shittygane. Shirotitty. Shirobitch. Shi—”

“Okay, get to the point.”

“I’m the golden girl genius, Miu Iruma. I have so many better things to be doing than go on this damn field trip, much less fuck shit up with you at a shitty convenience store. Do you really think you could force me to go if I really didn’t want to?”

Tsumugi paused in thought. “I guess not…”

“Then let’s go,” Miu said, slipping the key card to the motel in her pocket. She walked out the door and into the gentle winds of summer.

Tsumugi hesitated before stepping out into the light as well.

The walk to the convenience store looked much longer than it took, having taken no more than five minutes at a leisurely pace. The cool wind brushed their hair back as they entered with the semi-dim fluorescent lights streaming down on them. A few people roamed the halls but with the blink of an eye, they disappeared and were replaced with new people. The floor below them was white and speckled with colors. It was unclear if the dots were simply too small or if they were somehow an unrecognizable, unknown color. The employees stood at the cash registers at the front of the store, staring straight ahead as if they had seen something they could never unsee.

Miu nudged Tsumugi with her elbow. “Hey, is it just me or am I getting real shady vibes from here?”

Tsumugi shushed her with a finger. “Be quiet. We can’t disturb the surreal atmosphere, or they might get us.”

“Who the fuck is they?”

“... I’m just messing with you,” Tsumugi said, cracking a smile. “Places usually seem shady if there’s supposed to be a lot of people here but there aren’t. I can’t really explain why, but something about having other people around can make or break a place’s atmosphere.”

“Who even knows if they’re people? They sure as hell don’t seem like it,” Miu said.

“Well, neither do you.”

“Fuck you.”

“Let’s just get some snacks and move on.”

“Right.” Immediately, Miu stalked over to the refrigerated beverages section and opened the clear door, pulling out a pack of energy drinks.

Tsumugi furrowed her eyebrows and hurried to follow her. “Mi-san, why are you buying energy drinks? Don’t you only use them when you’re working on something late at night?”

“Hell, yeah, I…” Miu’s confidence seeped away with every passing second and was replaced with confusion as she stared down at the bottles in her hands. “What the fuck? Why did I get this?”

“That’s an excellent question. Why  _ did  _ you immediately go for that?”

Miu put the drinks back in their place without a word, instead grabbing an array of random chips and tossing them into the blue basket Tsumugi had grabbed on their way into the store. She paused and wrinkled her nose at one, putting it back on the stands. “You think this is enough to last us for the rest of the trip?”

“It’s not so much as I’m worried it will last us as I’m worried about no one eating the snacks. You and Kichi-kun are very picky eaters, you know.”

“Alright,  _ Mom,  _ I fucking get it.” Miu rolled her eyes as she replaced the snacks in the basket with snacks she was familiar with. “Jeez, talk about a buzzkill. Can’t you be a bit more reckless?”

“Not reckless with my health.” Tsumugi grabbed a bag and presented the label on the back to her. “See? This has more sodium than the Dead Sea. And the serving size is super small, too. Three chips from this would probably kill your liver.”

“So? As long as it tastes good.”

“No, that logic will get you killed before you’re forty,” Tsumugi said, “I know we’re young and strong and all that, but I really wish you would do your body a favor and get better health habits. Sleeping more is one. Exercising is another. Diet is the one we’re talking about right now. I really don’t want you to die before I do. That would suck.”

“Ha, suck.” Miu shrunk at Tsumugi’s glare. “F-Fine, I guess I’ll try to watch out for the labels. No promises though.”

Tsumugi smiled. “If you’re trying, then I’m happy.”

“Shut the fuck up about that sappy shit.”

She only laughed in response as she piled more food into the basket.

Late night trips to the convenience store was something Tsumugi had been doing since she got her driver’s license. The feeling of shopping alone in a shady convenience store was familiar, but the addition of another person was not. Even as the president of the student council and anime club in high school, she had never been close enough to someone to warrant waking them up in the middle of the night to add to her massive collection of binge-watching snacks. 

But now that she looked over at the person next to her laughing and making fun of the company slogans, it was only then she could realize just how much her life had changed, for better or for worse. This was her family, the people she could trust with her life.

Miu raised an eyebrow. “Hey, Shittygane, fuck are you staring into space for?”

Tsumugi snapped out of her trance and addressed her with a warm smile. “Hey, Mi-san, I just… really appreciate you. All three of you.”

“Fuck are you going on about?”

“Nothing. Just keep that in your mind, okay?” She patted her on the shoulder before dropping another chip bag into the basket.

Somehow, the right people made a trip to something as mundane as the convenience store lively.

 

* * *

There was something odd about driving at two in the morning with your best friends by your side that made you hate the ones you loved the most. And while their actions may have been a lapse in judgement, there was no doubt Kokichi was being a passive-aggressive little bitch while he was driving.

Miu caught herself on the armrests as they swerved to avoid another deer. “Can you fucking chill for two seconds? Why are you even driving this late at night? I thought you were supposed to be the safety bitch in the car.”

“No reason,” Kokichi sang, his eyes unblinking as he stared straight ahead onto the road. They were glassy and unfocused, clouded by fatigue. “Trust me, it’s okay. It’ll be okay.” It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince them.

“And I thought Tsu-san was a bad driver,” Rantarou mumbled, earning a slap to the arm and a tense backseat.

“Well, maybe I wouldn’t be driving badly if  _ someone  _ hadn’t forgotten to reserve a room at a motel.”

Two people’s stares moved to Rantarou, who only shrugged. “I told you we could just sleep in the car.”

Kokichi scoffed. “And risk getting looted by pirates from all over the world? No thanks.”

“... What?”

“I was kidding about the pirate part. I wasn’t kidding on the part about us getting looted.”

“Your eyes are more unfocused than a virgin during their first orgasm,” Miu said. She pointed at the GPS. “Look, there’s a parking lot right there. I’m pretty sure parking overnight is legal in this part of the country.”

“Do your eyes even work or are you just that stupid?”

“I swear to god, if you don’t pull the fuck over right now, I’ll be doing it for you.”

Kokichi glanced at Miu for a split second, and that was enough for him to know she was completely serious. He rolled his eyes before pulling into the parking lot. “Fine, but if we get raided or stopped by the police, it’s all your fault. I’m never forgiving any of you.”

“Fine, fine,” Tsumugi mumbled, “Remember to roll down the windows a bit.”

Kokichi parked at the very corner of the parking lot before rolling the windows down a few inches. “Are you sure you want to sleep here?”

Rantarou dismissed him with the wave of a hand. “Yeah, it should be fine. Nothing bad’s ever happened to me when I slept like this, and the police generally know what they’re doing in this area.”

Kokichi still looked doubtful but locked the car doors and drifted to sleep with three people already snoozing away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jesus this chapter is messier than my life. sorry guys


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The greatest part of a road trip isn't arriving at your destination. It's all the wild stuff that happens along the way."

Nobody expected Miu to be the first to wake up, but her screams pierced the air, startling all of them into waking up.

“What the hell, Miu?” Rantarou asked, the nickname dropping in his sleepy haze.

Miu didn’t spare him a glance. “‘What the hell?’ There’s a fucking handprint on the window!”

Indeed there was. On the window to her right was a white handprint directly next to where Miu had been resting her cheek. Judging by the mark, the hand had been there for a while.

“This was a horrible fucking idea, I hate everything, why the hell did we even come here?” Miu said, her breaths shallow and short. Her hands flew up to her head as she pulled at her hair in panic. “Holy shit, holy shit, holy—”

Kokichi rolled his eyes. “Come on, Mi-chan, that’s a fake handprint. It’s so obvious it was one of those cheap plastic ones instead of the silicon ones. But those cost money, and the people doing pranks in this area are teens.”

“A-Are you sure?” Tsumugi asked. Her face was paler than the handprint. “Because those look pretty real to me. There’s fingerprints on it and everything.”

“And I’ve never heard of teenagers being the ones to do the most pranks. They’re a pretty small portion of the population here,” Rantarou added, his eyebrows furrowed.

Kokichi gave them a bright, innocent smile. “Oh, come on. I’m not lying.”

He was lying. Kokichi turned the engine on and drove away as fast as he could to another parking lot, choosing to park in the exact center. The ride there was silent.

The three seemed skeptical but chose to believe him anyway. They turned their attention to making breakfast with what they had, which happened to be a bunch of cup noodles sprinkled with something that looked and tasted like salt but couldn´t be confirmed as the mineral.

Tsumugi poked at a chunk of meat with her wooden chopsticks. ¨Is this supposed to be beef?¨

"It's the chunk of human remains, obviously,” Kokichi scoffed, popping the meat chunk in his mouth. 'You think shady convenience stores can afford actual high-quality meat?"

"It says beef in the ingredients section," Rantarou said, squinting at the label on the back of the cup as he chewed on a mouthful of noodles.

"So? People lie all the time about what’s in a meal. Have you seen mothers lie to their children about something not having vegetables in it but it does?"

“I don’t think a mother wanting her children to be healthy can compare to food corporations lying to the general public about what’s in their food to boost sales.”

Tsumugi' s gaze shifted to Miu. "Mi-san, you've been pretty quiet. Are you feeling alright?¨

Miu tore her stare away from the window and down at her cup of noodles with a frown. “This one says pork. Why the hell did you give me the shitty one?”

“Pork isn’t all that bad.”

“It’s cannibalism,” Kokichi said with a too-bright smile. “A pig eating a pig.”

Miu opened her mouth to respond to the insult before another thought pushed it away. “Actually, can pigs eat other pigs? I knew this one guy that would feed his pigs bits of bacon with their usual slop.”

Kokichi wrinkled his nose. “Mi-chan, what the fuck?”

“What? I wasn’t the one doing it, it was my neighbor.”

The two began arguing, and that was their cue to start driving.

 

* * *

 

“A hiking trail,” Miu said, her eyes dull.

“A hiking trail,” Rantarou repeated. He looked more smug and proud of himself than any of the three could ever recall seeing. “More specifically, the Great Mountains hiking trail. It’s only a few miles.”

“Ten miles is a few miles?”

“Yup.”

Kokichi and Tsumugi raised an eyebrow at each other.

This was, of course, a bad idea, but that didn’t stop Rantarou from making a stop at a place that would guarantee every one of them would get their exercise for the next ten years in. But the hiking trail seemed inviting, light streaming through the holes of the oak and pine tree canopy. A few signs directing people towards the correct trails were present, though most of the forest in front of them was empty. Brown pine needles were layered under the trees. The trail itself, however, was mostly empty dirt.

“Um, Tarou-kun,” Tsumugi called, her eyebrows furrowed and hands gathered at the front of her skirt. “Were you planning on making this detour from the very beginning?”

Rantarou hummed in thought. “Actually, no. I was hoping we would go hiking, but I never really made up my mind until I saw this trail on the GPS.”

“If you didn’t prepare for it, how do we know we have the right equipment to go hiking? Mi-san and I are wearing skirts, and Kichi-kun’s wearing a scarf. You’re not very well equipped either.”

“I get what you’re saying about clothes, but I’m pretty well-equipped.” Rantarou patted the backpack on his shoulders. “This has a ton of water and food in it, as well as an umbrella if we get caught in rain. I checked the weather, but you never know.”

Kokichi deposited his scarf into the front pocket of his backpack. “Yeah, yeah, hiking nerd. How long is this gonna take us, two years?”

“It’s only ten miles, so it should only take about five hours. Maybe less since the trail seems really flat.”

“H-Ha, just like Shittygane,” Miu stuttered out, forcing a laugh out of her mouth. Her feet moved up and down. The heels of her boots dug into the packed dirt and left tiny, blocky imprints.

Tsumugi tilted her head, the insult going ignored. “Mi-san, can you switch shoes with me? I feel more comfortable when I’m wearing heels.”

Both Rantarou and Kokichi squinted their eyes at her, catching onto the blatant lie.

Miu, on the other hand, was either oblivious or didn’t care about the lie. She unzipped her boots and set them on the floor. “You must have some serious balls asking for help from the great Miu Iruma. Do you know how busy I am?”

“Yes, I know,” Tsumugi said, kicking off her own brown flats and pulling the boots on. “Thanks, Mi-san. I was really worried for a second.”

“No big deal.” Miu slipped the flats on, and her shoulders relaxed. “Whatever. Are we gonna get going or what?”

“Hold on,” Rantarou said, fishing a can of bug repellent out of his backpack. “All of you, stay still while I put this on you.”

Miu raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “What’s a bug gonna do to me, fucking—shit!” She cut herself off and squeezed her eyes shut as the repellent covered every inch of her skin. “You couldn’t have warned me, you dick?”

“I did.”

The cycle repeated until every person was covered head to toe in bug repellant. 

“Are we done now?” Tsumugi grumbled, wiping her glasses on the inside of her shirt.

Rantarou smiled and tossed the repellent back into his backpack. “Yup! Let’s get going.”

And so they walked into the forest with no particular direction in mind, going wherever the universe took them.

 

* * *

 

By the time they had emerged from the hiking trail and changed back into their regular clothes, it was night. The blue skies from hours ago had transformed into an empty, black canvas of stars. The rural area around them consisted of a few restaurants and houses scattered on the lonely road. Not a sound could be heard other than the soft hum of the car engine.

“I can’t believe none of you fucks got bitten,” Miu grumbled as she applied a white ointment to a red bump on her skin.

“It’s because we wear more clothes than you, you slutty bitch,” Kokichi said. He narrowly avoided Miu’s swinging hand to keep his hands on the steering wheel. “Be careful, Mi-chan, you’re driving tomorrow.”

“If you even have a tomorrow,” Miu snorted.

Tsumugi sighed as Kokichi pulled into another gas station. “Seriously? I understand you don’t want to run out of gas, but our tank is already almost full.”

Rantarou’s eyes narrowed at the gas station’s flickering lights and the cars stationed at every pump except the center one. “Wait, Kichi-kun, are you sure this is a good idea? This place looks suspicious.”

“Every gas station in the countryside looks suspicious,” Kokichi said. He stopped the car at the middle gas pump and stepped out of the car. He reached for the gas pump before turning around at the sound of car doors slamming.

Masked figures stepped out of the surrounding cars with knives in their hands, all turning around to face him.

Kokichi’s blood ran cold. Goosebumps prickled at his skin. His fingers reached for the handle to the car door, but he stopped himself. Opening the car door would endanger everyone else. He was stuck outside.

Rantarou seemed to have come to the same conclusion. Despite Miu being frozen in the passenger seat, he reached forward, his finger approaching the button to lock every door and window. He hesitated before pushing the button. He leaned back with a storm of guilt and worry screaming at him to unlock the door, but he couldn’t.

Tsumugi caught on soon after. She tapped on both of their shoulders, mouthing at them to get down.

Miu’s mouth fell open. She seemed as if she wanted to argue but followed directions and unlocked her seatbelt, kneeling in the empty area below the passenger’s seat.

Rantarou followed suit and ducked his head.

Tsumugi sent one final desperate glance towards Kokichi before ducking her head as well, and the car went silent.

_ Really? Is this happening right now?  _ Kokichi’s eyes caught the red numbers in the car reading 3:23 AM before all energy left him. He looked around, only to see all the surrounding cars were empty.  _ Oh. So this was a trap. _

“Get on the ground!” a man shouted, pointing a knife in Kokichi’s direction. “All your friends need to get on the ground!”

Kokichi fought the urge to roll his eyes and kneeled on the ground. He knew he should have been more panicked, maybe even begging for his life, but he couldn’t find the energy to muster up an emotion other than bored. He hadn’t drank anything with caffeine in it, and he had gone almost an entire day without sleep. He couldn’t feel fear even if he wanted to.

The criminals didn’t seem to like his blank expression. Another man raised a knife. “All of you, get out of the car, or we’ll cut your friend to death!”

Luckily, everyone else still felt alive enough to be frozen in panic. Good. That worked in Kokichi’s favor.

Kokichi stood up slowly with his palms still up, intending to do what he did best. “Those pansies, I swear to god. Hold on, I’ll talk to them.”

The criminals seemed content with the answer and backed away.

Kokichi bent down to face the window and knocked on the glass.

Miu’s eyes widened, and she clicked on the button unlocking the door.

Kokichi opened the car door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. All the thoughts swirling around in his head blanked as he stared into three worried face. The car was silent save for their shuddery breaths.

Tsumugi was the first to speak. “We—We need to get out of here.”

The metal in Kokichi’s pocket felt heavier. He took it out of his pocket, only to realize it was the car keys. He turned it over in his hand before an epiphany hit him. “We could just leave.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Miu said, her voice wavering. She climbed back up to the passenger seat, her body shaking with each second.

The other two followed suit and sat back down on proper seats.

Kokichi inserted the car keys into the designated slot and threw the car into reverse as quickly as he could, knocking one of the criminals down in the process. He drove forward with a steel grip and sweat dripping down his forehead.

The crowd of criminals ran out of the way of the car, though the car wheel crushed somebody’s abandoned shoe. One person chased after them, holding up a wad of money, before stopping after six feet. Everyone else only stared.

Kokichi smirked at their dumbfounded faces in the mirror and slammed the gas pedal as far down as he could.

But as the 3AM fatigue faded away with each passing second, the panic he should have felt when he was in close contact with the criminals returned at full force. His hands shook, but his focus remained on the road and getting as far away from the gas station as he could.

Forty miles later, they stopped at a deserted parking lot, and Kokichi’s breathing had gotten so erratic he felt as if the world was spinning around him.

Kokichi slammed the car door open and ran out, his legs buckling after he ran the space of five parking lot spaces. He tucked his legs close to his chest, and his hands clawed at his head. “Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He could vaguely register the sound of three sets of footsteps nearing him, but he wouldn’t process it until three people were seated next to him.

Rantarou reached out to pluck one of Kokichi’s hands away from his head. “Kichi-kun, you’re fine. We’re fine. All of us are fine. No one’s hurt.” His voice was soft and gentle, but it had no effect on the heart that threatened to burst at any moment.

“No, it’s not fine,” Kokichi screamed back, tears building up in his eyes as his heart pounded as if he had consumed the world’s supply of energy drinks. “I almost—I almost got everyone killed!”

The others recoiled at his words.

His panic had finally caught up with him, and there was no use trying to hide it anymore. The truth hurt, but deluding himself into believing a lie hurt even more. So he allowed his mask to fall for just a moment. It felt like a waste, but what else was left after telling every lie possible?

“Kichi-kun, that’s ridiculous,” Tsumugi said with as much firmness in her voice as she could, which wasn’t much. 

Kokichi bit at his thumb, biting so hard it drew a drop of blood. “I don’t deserve that nickname.” More panic flared at their increasingly concerned faces. “But I’m fine, I’m completely fine.”

“That’s the worst lie you’ve ever told,” Miu snorted, yet her voice was weak and the hostility behind it false.

She was right. One look at Kokichi’s trembling body and ghastly face was enough to render any of his lies obvious. Any lie he told could and would be exposed as such. And without any lies to tell, only the truth remained.

The four sat in silence, the only sound being the chirps of crickets and the occasional car passing by. They were alone, not even the moon making its appearance. To any other person, it would have been a normal night.

“I…” Kokichi began, avoiding eye contact. “I was alone.”

“You don’t have to tell us anything yet,” Rantarou said.

Kokichi whipped around to him with tears building up in his eyes. “Then who else? When? If I can’t tell you now, then I can’t tell anyone.” Every inch of himself told him to retreat back into the lying shell he had spent so much time creating, but he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t want to live like he did in the past.

The three fell silent, allowing Kokichi to continue.

“I think… I was five when the car accident happened,” Kokichi said, his voice strained as if he was fighting to get the words out. “My parents were hit by a drunk driver. Killed all three of them. No survivors. I only heard after a social service worker came to get me, and she point blank told me my parents were dead.

“After that, I was put in an orphanage, put through the foster system. I was the leader of a group of ten people I called DICE. They all got adopted, and I was left alone.”

“Did… Did you go to school?” Tsumugi asked.

Kokichi stared ahead. “Yes.”

“Did you like it?”

“No. But I had one… friend? I don’t really know what we were, but…” He scrambled to switch the topic. “After eight goddamn years in the foster system, a couple liked me enough to consider adopting me, but they couldn’t handle another kid in the house. So, they got me a house in the shitty town we live in now and paid for the bills while I went to school there. We never talked again after that. I think they just felt sorry for me.”

“So you were isolated by both your peers and your adoptive parents,” Rantarou said, his voice soft.

Kokichi paused before plastering a plastic grin on his face, all traces of tears being wiped away. “Nope! I had a great school and home life. Everyone loved me. I can’t believe you actually believed that entire story.”

The three stayed silent, obviously unbelieving, before Miu choked out a laugh. “Ha! Y-You got me good, you shitty gremlin. Nice joke.”

Her lie wasn’t quite as good as his, but it was enough for him to shoot her a bright smile. “Thanks, Mi-chan. My performances are always the best.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You wanna go back inside now? I’ll drive.”

“Really? I don’t think the roads need another idiot ramming the car into everything.”

Despite his words, Miu opened the front door of the car and claimed the driver’s seat. She looked back at them. “Well? Are you coming or not?”

Kokichi moved to stand up, only to plummet back down to Earth. “I’m fine riiight here.”

Tsumugi took one look at him before grabbing his arm and pulling up. “Come on, you grape, we have to get going. We still have a casino to get to.”

“That’s where we’re going next?” Still, Kokichi accepted the hand, climbing into the backseat of the car with Tsumugi and Rantarou by his side.

Once everyone was in the car, Miu turned around. “What do you say, fuckers? Do we stay here or just keeping driving.”

Rantarou watched Kokichi turn to look behind them before handing her an opened energy drink. “Here, Mi-san. I think you’ll need this.”

Miu’s eyes sparkled as she accepted the drink and gulped down half of it. She started the car and placed her hands on the wheel. “Alright, let’s fucking go!”

“You’re not tired at all?” Tsumugi asked.

“Nope. The great Miu Iruma has a more efficient battery than all of you.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m better than you.”

“Ah, okay. Thanks for the translation.”

“And, um, Kichi-kun,” Rantarou said, turning back to face him with a gentle smile. “You’re not alone. Not anymore.”

It was an honest statement, so Kokichi gave him an honest answer.

“I know.”

 

* * *

 

“I feel like death,” Miu mumbled from the backseat, wrapped in every blanket.

“That’s your own fault,” Tsumugi said. She turned around from the passenger’s seat to stare at her. “You stayed up for longer than twenty-four hours, and you pay the price. Right, Tarou-kun?”

Rantarou raised a hand. “Hey, I’m just the driver. I have nothing to do with this.”

Kokichi snickered and poked the cocoon that was Miu. “Aw, did our little Mi-chan burn herself out?”

“Yes, I did, you little shit,” Miu grumbled, moving the cocoon of blankets just enough to aim a kick somewhere in Kokichi’s direction.

“You missed, dumb—ow! Tsu-chan, Mi-chan’s bullying me!” Kokichi cried. His wails were so loud it forced Miu deeper into her pile of blankets.

“Can you please hurry to the Jade Lion Casino?” Tsumugi mumbled, holding her hands over her ears.

Miu popped out of her blankets with wide eyes and an agape mouth. “Wait, we’re going to  _ that _ casino? The one where fistfights happen like, every two minutes?”

“No, that’s the Crystal Casino. It’s not even in our country, how do you know about that?”

“Fistfights happen every two minutes. Enough said.”

“I don’t mean to toot my own horn or anything,” Rantarou mused, “but some of my sisters have gotten pretty good at blackjack.”

Kokichi hummed as he dug around in the trunk for a deck of cards. “Do they count cards? The most fun in blackjack is seeing how much you can get away with before someone calls you out.”

“They don’t. Do you have experience in that?”

“I’m sure someone else would like to answer for me. Isn’t that right,  _ Mi-chan? _ ” Kokichi’s smile tightened, and he sent a poisonous glare to Miu.

Miu flinched under his intense stare. “F-Fuck are you looking at me like that for? That was  _ one _ time, okay? And it wasn’t even card counting, it was shuffle tracking. Get it right, you purple nerd.”

“Apparently,” Kokichi spat, his arms crossed, “Mi-chan is the resident blackjack expert here.”

“It’s not my fault you decided to bet against a math queen.”

“It totally is your fault for making me not drink any Panta for a week. I could have died, you know. My body is seventy percent lies and thirty percent Panta.”

“Your diet is concerning,” Tsumugi sighed.

“ _ You’re  _ concerning.”

“What does that even mean?”

And thus, another argument started.

This time, Miu kicked her feet up on the cup holders in between the front two seats and grabbed a juice box out of the cooler next to her, poking the straw through the designated silver hole and drinking as the world fell apart around her.

 

* * *

 

The Jade Lion Casino was one of the smallest in their country but still well-known for its lax rules and relaxed atmosphere. While most of its wares included slot machines, a separate section of the building was available for table games. Right next to the table games was another section dedicated to poker. A bar and buffet area were nearby, though they required more money to enter.

The swirley pattern on the carpet gave Miu a headache. The lights inside were dim but not dim enough to obscure anything from vision. No windows were visible, though lights radiated from the lines of mostly occupied slot machines. Blackjack and poker tables could be seen through the entrance to another room. Themes of red, blue, and silver were everywhere, creating a futuristic vibe. If Miu hadn’t become so familiar with casinos, she would have thought she had stepped onto another planet.

But there was something missing. 

“Wait,” Miu said, “This is a kiddy version of a casino, isn’t it? There’s no cash anywhere, just a bunch of poker chips.”

Rantarou stopped to scan the area. “Well, the slot machines actually take your money. I suspect that’s how they get the revenue to run the place. Everything else is just fun and games.”

“What kind of fucking lame ass casino does that?”

“This is the Jade Lion Casino. If you want to go somewhere more serious, there’s the Emerald Casino just a few miles away.”

“Why does this area have so many casinos?” Tsumugi asked.

“Does that matter?” Kokichi said. He tugged on Miu’s sleeve and pointed at a poker table. “Mi-chan! Mi-chan! Let’s go wipe the floor with those losers over there!”

“Shut up, they’ll hear you,” Miu grumbled, though a smile rose to her lips and she walked towards the table.

Tsumugi and Rantarou exchanged a concerned glance before following.

 

* * *

“How are you so good at poker?” Tsumugi mumbled after folding her hand.

Miu stuck a lollipop in her mouth as she met Rantarou’s raise by pushing a stack of poker chips to the middle of the table. “Spend a ton of time at casinos, and you’ll pick up the rules real quickly. Obviously Cuckma couldn’t because of his baby ass face, but you get it.”

Kokichi pouted at the insult but stayed silent, meeting Rantarou’s raise as well.

The table flipped over their cards, revealing a series of numbers from Rantarou, three of a kind from Kokichi, and a full house from Miu.

“I was bluffing,” Rantarou admitted with a sigh. Nevertheless, he pushed the stack of chips towards Miu.

Kokichi snickered even as he passed his chips to Miu. “You’re the most obvious poker player ever, Ran-chan.”

Miu accepted the chips and set up to begin another game. “Yeah. You bite your lip when you get in a real tough situation and smile when you get a good hand. I thought you were trying to trick us at first, but no. Turns out you’re just dumb as shit.” She shuffled and dealt out the cards with the finesse of an expert before flipping one card over on the table.

Tsumugi’s eyes trailed her movement. “You and Kichi-kun have good poker faces. I get why Kichi-kun does, but how about you, Mi-san?”

“The great Miu Iruma needs to be good at everything,” Miu said. She paused to nudge a few chips to the center of the table. “Back when my dad didn’t go on as many business trips, he used to drag me to casinos all the time. I mean, he would lose pretty often, but watching the actual pros do it really taught me a lot. Like, a lot of them use math to calculate probability and shit.”

“Wow, Mi-chan’s actually smart in something?” Kokichi asked. He ducked and narrowly avoided Miu’s half-hearted attack.

“Yeah. So when I figured out how to use math, I began to really play poker, blackjack, good shit like that. The bitches at my old school would go wild when I beat somebody.”

Tsumugi hummed in thought as she raised the bet. “You really like math, don’t you?”

“Hell yeah, I do.”

“Why? A lot of people don’t like it.”

Miu snorted and rolled her eyes as Rantarou raised the bet, biting his lip. “Well, I do, so shut the fuck up.”

A silence passed across the table before Miu spoke up again in a quieter, shakier voice.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” She flipped over another card, revealing a queen. “It’s like everyone says; math is consistent. No matter what happens in your life, one plus one will always equal two. Two times two will always equal four. Sine of sixty-nine will always equal zero point nine.”

That earned her a few confused stares from the other three, but she continued.

“My childhood wasn’t very stable,” she said. Her eyes narrowed when Kokichi raised the bet with a smile. “I’m not sure what happened with my mom. She might have died or just fled the country for all I know. Then my dad just went fucking crazy. Like, I could never tell what the hell he was thinking or feeling, and I never really got good at detecting it either. He never actually physically harmed me—thank the fucking lord—but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.

“Anyway, he had these moments where he would go to low-risk casinos to blow some steam, and those low-risk casinos allowed children, so he pulled me along with him.” A smirk crossed her face. “And man, it was satisfying as fuck to see him get beaten by the professionals, especially the girls. I taught myself how to play poker, blackjack, all those kinds of card games where you could do math in your head. That was around the same time he left to go on a shit ton of business trips, so I never really got to show him up, but… that’s fine. I like playing gambling games, and I don’t have to talk to him ever again. Win-win.”

“Are you really okay with that?” Tsumugi asked, frowning as she folded her cards.

“... Yeah, I think I am. I like being here now.” Miu cackled as everyone folded their cards. “Kyahaha! Get wrecked, bitches!”

Tsumugi sighed as she pushed all of her chips towards Miu. “In any case, I’m glad you’re out of that situation now. And, um… I know it’s a bit sketchy to trust people, but I promise we’ll try to be the consistency in your life. I don’t know if we’ll succeed, but we’ll definitely try.” She smiled as she held her pinky out to her. “It’s a promise.”

Miu hesitated, turning to glance at Rantarou and Kokichi, the former nodding and the latter giving her a bright smile. 

Eighteen years of instability had done a number to Miu’s life, no matter how good she was at gambling games. Everything happened as a result of everyone else’s choices, from what food she ate to where she could go. And it pissed her off. It was infuriating how one person had robbed her of her enjoying her childhood and being just that: a child. But these three people… Would they treat her like that? Would they put her down and try to control her life?

She couldn’t be completely sure, but stepping forward and linking her pinky with hers was her own choice, and no one could take that away from her.

 

* * *

 

“Jeez, people these days,” Kokichi murmured as Tsumugi passed him an ice pack from the gas station. He pressed it against his bruising cheek, watching the pale skin grow darker and darker. “Did he really have to punch me?”

“He punched me too, asshat,” Miu grumbled. She took another ice pack from Tsumugi’s hands and pressed it against the front of her shoulder.

They were in full view of the other customers at the gas station, though none of them spared them a glance, opting to ignore the obvious bruises on their faces. The cashier’s eyes only darted down to the bruise on Kokichi’s cheek before maintaining his stone cold face. Nobody had even blinked when Tsumugi ran into the gas station and begged for two bags of ice. Now, they sat with the car doors open, airing the car out and stretching their limbs out.

“I’m not sure collusion is a good idea in a gambling game,” Rantarou said.

Miu scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, we can’t have been  _ that _ obvious.”

“You were literally just raising each others’ bets for ten minutes. You didn’t let anyone else talk.”

“So? Maybe we’re enemies or some shit. Some of the people here have some shady ass backstories you don’t want to know.”

“When you’re laughing at each other, it’s pretty clear you guys are friends.”

“Me? Friends with Mi-chan? Yeah, that’s a lie,” Kokichi snorted. His eyes shifted to her shoulder. “There’s a little scrape on your cheek. Bandage it up before you get stuck with another condition besides little bitch disease.”

Miu scoffed but fished through the trunk for a first aid kit anyway. “Hey, Shitmami, get off your ass and cover up Oumoron’s bruise with makeup. We don’t need anyone thinking we abused him or some shit.”

“‘Not friends,’” Rantarou mused as he took concealer out of his backpack. He held Kokichi’s head still as he covered up the bruise.

Tsumugi sighed as she watched the scene. “I really wish you two would avoid trouble. I’m glad you’re having fun, but we need to be careful when we’re on the road.”

“Says the person who almost got into a fistfight with someone over the correct pronunciation of a character’s name.”

“If their name is German, you pronounce the W like a V!”

“Anyway,” Rantarou said, chuckling at the following glare from Tsumugi. “If you like fun, you’re really going to like where we’re going next.”

Kokichi’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, are we going to a graveyard?”

“What? No—”

“Crematorium?”

“No—”

“Hospital?”

“Where are you even getting these? We’re going to an arcade, holy crap.” Rantarou drew away from him, capping the concealer. “Jeez, can you lighten up a bit?”

“Nope!” Kokichi sang as he lifted his legs back into the car. He pulled the door shut. “Is it one of those sketchy arcades or is it an arcade for kids?”

“What’s the difference?” Miu snickered.

Tsumugi gave her a dirty look but closed the trunk shut and climbed into the passenger seat. “I can’t believe you’re the one driving us out of here. I’d rather have the normie drive us.”

Kokichi put his chin on the shoulder of her seat. “Hey, it’s your fault for being such a terrifying driver. I have no clue how you got your driver’s license.” He snapped back when Tsumugi reached around her chair to grab him.

“Remember to do your seatbelt,” Rantarou said, climbing into the backseat next to Kokichi and pulling the door shut.

“Only pussies do seatbelts.” Nevertheless, Miu pulled the strap over her and pushed it into the buckles with a click. The car turned on with a rumble. “Are we ready or what?”

“What?” Kokichi asked.

“I said, ‘Are we—’”

“Oh, no. I heard you.”

Miu held his stare with narrowed eyes for a moment before shifting her gaze back to the windshield and driving out of the gas station.

 

* * *

 

Happyscore Arcade was not a happy place. Young adults with the stench of cheap beer on their breaths were the main audience of the arcade despite most of the prizes being candy and toys and the advertising being geared towards children. In a way, it was almost impressive, having the motivation to relive childhoods through the use of video games. But now that Rantarou got a closer look at the emptiness in their eyes when the game stopped, it was just sad.

There was no danger of stepping on a slushie puddle or crushed popcorn; there was none on the floors to begin with. The employees looked just as dead as the customers. It wasn’t clear whether the arcade had an owner or not, creating myths that would lead to teenagers daring each other to spend a few hours at the arcade and live to tell the tale. If the machines and games weren’t working, it would have been exactly like a haunted house.

“Well, this place is special,” Kokichi snorted, watching his feet pick up dust from the swirley patterned carpet. His nose wrinkled. “And sanitary, obviously.”

Tsumugi looked around the room warily, her gaze stopping at the flickering lights overhead. “Tarou-kun, why did you bring us here? This doesn’t seem like the safest place to be.”

Rantarou didn’t answer, instead turning to exchange money for tokens with the worker at the front desk. He dispersed the golden tokens between the four of them and graced them with a tight smile. “Have fun, okay? Mi-san, don’t mess with the machines. Kichi-kun, don’t mess with anyone here.”

Miu slipped her wrench back into her pocket, avoiding eye contact.

Kokichi narrowed his eyes at Rantarou for a split second before breaking out into a grin. “Alright! I’ll see you all in an hour!” He skipped away into the maze of machines. Along the way, he snatched a token out of a pink-haired girl’s hands, who only blinked at him before pulling her blue cat hoodie over her head and refocusing on the game in front of her.

Miu disappeared behind a set of machines, the only visible part of her being the top of her head. Judging by the way she bent down and completely disappeared, she had ignored Rantarou’s instructions about tampering with the machines.

Tsumugi’s brows knitted, and her hands moved to the front of her skirt. “Are you sure you’ll be alright, Tarou-kun?”

“I’ll be fine on my own,” Rantarou said, waving her off. “I know there’s a dressup game somewhere here. It’s based on anime, so I think you would like it.”

“Well… okay, just text us if you need us.” And with that, Tsumugi shot him one last dubious glance before leaving him in the crane machine section.

Rantarou watched them as his smile slipped off his face. He turned back to another machine, sliding in two tokens before the screen flashed to life. The blue screen of Tetris gleamed on his face under the dim lighting of the Happyscore Arcade.

It was night by the time either of them saw each other again. It was as if they had stepped into another dimension, another time as they lost themselves in an arcade that couldn’t have been larger than the average store. 

“Really, Mi-san?” Tsumugi sighed as Miu scrambled to hide a screwdriver behind her back. “Tarou-kun literally told you not to tamper with the machines.”

Miu shrunk under her disappointed expression. “Fine, I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself, okay? Those machines were just asking to be taken apart, and the arcade’s just asking for someone to cheat. There’s no security cameras in here or anything.” She sheepishly smiled and held out a pinky. “Keep this a secret between us?”

Tsumugi stared at her before shaking her head and wrapping her pinky around hers. “It’s a secret.”

Another voice interjected their conversation. “Wow, you guys only got that many tickets while you were playing? You’re all noobs.”

Tsumugi’s stare sharpened into a glare as she looked in the direction of the voice. “Maybe so, but we’re not the ones who pickpocketed random people around the arcade.”

“That, and you hopped around the arcade and went from game to game just whoring them out,” Miu said, “Who’s the slut now, Oumoron?”

“Still you,” Kokichi said, rolling his eyes but the smile on his face not fading. He pushed a bucket of tickets into Tsumugi’s arms. “Keep that safe for me, will you? I spent a really long time trying to collect them all, and my poor arms are getting tired.”

Tsumugi shot him a dirty look but took the bucket anyway. “Does anyone know what time it is?”

Miu whistled when she glanced down at her watch. “It’s nine o’clock. It’s been four hours.”

“Ah. Then we should probably go look for Tarou-kun, right?”

The other two agreed and scoured the arcade. Eventually, they entered the old-school games section, only to see Rantarou stationed in front of a Pac-Man machine, his eyes trained on the screen as he frantically moved the joystick around. His face betrayed nothing, and there was a strange wistfulness in his eyes that was reflected with the blue light radiating from the screen.

The three gathered around him and watched the screen, wanting to leave the arcade but not wanting to disturb him in his game. Half of the small yellow pellets in the maze were gone. The yellow circle Rantarou was cornered on the right side of the screen by the four ghosts scattered around the arena.

A moment of silence passed before Rantarou spoke up. “You know… Pac-Man is a good game. It’s a really good game.”

Miu raised an eyebrow. “Something with just a chase and collecting mechanic is a good game? I get that it was popular, but I wouldn’t call that a good game.”

“Good games are subjective,” Tsumugi said.

“Pac-Man is a lot more than just a chase and collect game,” Rantarou said, his face unchanged. “You have the option of eating the ghosts, for example. There’s a maze, too, so you have to be careful not to get cornered. There’s a lot of complexities in simple games.”

Miu shrugged and mumbled, “I guess.”

They fell into a companionable silence before Rantarou spoke up again.

“Happyscore Arcade wasn’t always like this. The town here used to be really busy, almost as busy as the major cities in the country.”

That earned him a few raised eyebrows, but he continued anyway.

“My mom would take my sisters and I here every few months back when I was around nine years old. I remember coming to Pac-Man every time we came here and getting all the high score spots.” He scoffed. “Until some person named Nanami came and took my crown, but that’s a story for another day. I stopped coming here when I was twelve.” His words stopped, leaving the eight-bit sounds to fill the silence.

“Why?” Tsumugi prompted.

Rantarou’s hand hesitated for a moment before he turned around a corner. “I grew up. My mom told me why my dad was never around. I couldn’t understand, so I decided it would be a great idea to gather as much information about him as I could and go on a manhunt.” He let out a humorless, almost inaudible chuckle. “I chased him for three years. Three entire years. I only came back in the second semester of my freshmen year.”

“So… that means you were fifteen when you stopped.”

“I was fifteen when I found him. I went through the standard interrogation techniques, yelling, arguing, screaming, effective strategies like that.”

“Very effective,” Kokichi snorted.

Rantarou cracked a smile. “He had nothing of worth to say, so I just came back home. And it was frustrating, you know? I missed my entire middle school life just to chase this guy, and there was nothing that came from it. It’s like…” His thumb moved over the joystick. “It’s like these damn ghosts in the game. The one time I managed to get the power-up, the ghosts were too far away for me to get anything out of it.”

Miu pointed at the hand holding the joystick. “You look like you’re about to break that damn thing.”

He loosened his grip on the joystick and jerked it up. “Right. Sorry.” A pause. “When you think about it, Pac-Man doesn’t have an ending.”

“It has a kill screen.”

“That’s not an ending. But I think… I think I’m fine on level eighteen. I can accept that, and I’ll move on when I’m ready.” Just as he finished his sentence, a ghost caught up to the yellow figure, resulting in the game over screen. Rantarou released the joystick and turned to them with a smile, only for it to fade into a confused expression. “How did you get so many tokens? There’s not a lot of games where the token box works anymore.”

Tsumugi sighed as Kokichi snickered. “It’s a long story. Let’s just go.”

“You’re not even going to cash it in for something?”

Kokichi snatched the bucket out of Tsumugi’s hands and held it close to his chest. “Nah, the prizes here are worthless. We should just go home.”

Rantarou quirked an eyebrow up. “Really? I would’ve thought you would like the opportunity for more candy.”

“You thought wrong,” Kokichi sang as he skipped out of the arcade. One of the employees stared after him, though they made no movement to seize the tokens.

“Hey,” Miu began, “If your metaphor for life or whatever is Pac-Man, what are we?”

Rantarou blinked. “Isn’t it obvious? You would be the power-ups. Come on, we should go before Kichi-kun gets punched again.”

The three left the Happyscore Arcade, leaving their rusted pasts behind them and driving towards a better, brighter future.”

 

* * *

 

Their last stop in an empty parking lot was bittersweet, the crickets chirping as night rolled over. The full moon was out tonight, seeming to bid them one last goodbye. The stars twinkled above them, and everything was still.

“Well, it’s our last night together out on the road,” Tsumugi said, her voice almost inaudible above the sound of cars driving past them and the soft wind rustling the trees.

No one answered. The wind rustled the leaves of the foliage between the parking lot and the road, whistling a farewell tune. The heat of summer was gone and replaced with the cooler entrance of autumn.

“‘Gee, thanks, Tsumugi,’” Tsumugi grumbled with her fingers lifted into air quotes. “‘We’ll miss you too, Tsumugi.’”

“Damn. Someone’s bitter,” Miu laughed. She jumped back when Tsumugi smacked the space behind her.

Rantarou leaned back in the driver’s seat, a low chuckle rumbling in his throat. “I think we’re just too tired for that. I can’t wait to get home to my sisters.”

“Jesus, man. How’re you gonna manage when you go off to college?”

“I’m not.”

“That’s an optimistic outlook,” Kokichi snorted, folding his arms behind his head and kicking his feet up on the front cupholder. They remained even when Tsumugi gave him a desperate look. “Did you hear about the guy that exploded when he got to college and his parents left? The poor cleaning staff took forever to get his guts off the wall.”

Miu wrinkled her nose. “What the hell, dickface? I don’t need that visual at—” She paused to glance at the clock. “—Three thirty in the fucking morning.”

“I didn’t need to be stuck with your ugly ass for two weeks either, but that happened.”

“It doesn’t feel like it’s been two weeks,” Rantarou said, “It feels like it’s been forever.”

Kokichi snickered as he retracted his feet and leaned his face towards the two front seats. “Ooh, bet you’re gonna miss us, aren’t you? Who could manage without my pretty face?”

“Fucking everyone,” Miu snorted.

Rantarou hummed pensively. “I’m sure the majority of the world could, but we’re not the majority of the world, are we? To be honest, I would miss all of you if texting didn’t exist.”

Kokichi shook his head. “No, no, we could definitely still communicate via carrier pigeon. I’ll send one to you right after we get home.”

“Really? I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“You two are such normies,” Tsumugi groaned as the two laughed. “This was supposed to be a meaningful moment, and you just turned it into a joke. Thanks a lot, guys.”

“Who says silly moments can’t be meaningful?” Kokichi asked. “Remember when Mi-chan and I painted that Shrek statue in the park when we were juniors? That was probably meaningful.”

Miu crossed her arms. “Like hell it was, Oumoron. We damn near got arrested for that. We probably would have been arrested if it wasn’t for your stupid ass baby face.”

A grin stretched across Kokichi’s face, and he leaned back to poke her arm. “Aw, did our beloved dumbass just try to lie to me? That’s sooo pathetic!”

“You bitch, I’m not fucking lying.”

“Denial is always the first step.”

As another argument blazed between them, Rantarou’s eyes fell on the fabric on Tsumugi’s lap. “Are you done with the map yet?”

“Tsumugi hummed and picked it up. “No, not yet. I still have to mark where we went home.” She paused, her fingers sliding over the grooves of the red thread. “We made a lot of detours for the last half of our trip, actually. This trip would have only been a week and a half if we hadn’t stopped at so many places.”

True to her word, the threaded path on the map diverted so much from their planned route on the GPS it didn’t seem like the same track anymore. The first stretch of road had gone all the way to Arlington Beach before the path spiked at varying points. Their beginning point was marked with a blue pin. Over the trip, the red thread had crawled across the map, leaving only half an inch of space between where the thread had stopped and where the blue pin was located. It was tempting to close that space, but that would mean the end of their adventure.

Miu cleared her throat, and that’s when Rantarou and Tsumugi realized they had gone silent a few minutes ago. “Hey, even if we go back to that hell town… it’s not like we’re gonna forget anything. Nothing’s changed, we’re just at a different place.”

“Nishishi! Great motivational speech, Mi-chan,” Kokichi teased. Still, he nodded along. “But I guess even the stupidest of us say true things. Ran-chan took a bunch of pictures, after all.”

Rantarou dug his phone out of his back pocket and swiped through the giant collection of pictures he had taken of them. “Half my phone’s memory is probably just from this trip alone. I’ll send you all the highlights when we get home.”

“No! You have to send us everything.”

“Everything?”

“ _ Everything! _ Who knows if you find a funny picture of Mi-chan or Tsu-chan, and you refuse to let me use it to blackmail them? That would be a terrible, terrible day.”

“Alright, Mister Dramatic, I’ll send all of them,” Rantarou laughed as his thumb swiped across the screen.

A silence passed between them before Tsumugi spoke up again.

“I don’t… I don’t think I’ll ever forget this. I don’t think I’ll ever forget  _ you _ .” She smiled. “Thanks for the memories, everyone.”

“If it’s worth anything,” Rantarou began, “I don’t think any of us can ever forget you either.”

“None of you’d better forget me,” Miu said, pointing a finger up. “If anyone forgets the great Miu Iruma, I’m going over to your house and smacking the shit out of you.”

Rantarou chuckled. “I’ll be holding you to that promise, Mi-san.”

Kokichi rolled his eyes. “Jeez, you guys are so emotional. What are you gonna do next, start crying into each other’s arms?” He paused. “But I  _ guess _ I can’t forget any of you. None of you were boring.”

Tsumugi raised a hand to her heart. “That’s the highest compliment we’ll ever get from him. I’ll cherish it.”

Rantarou laughed and reclined his seat back after opening the windows by an inch. “Well, I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.”

Tsumugi did the same, earning a complaint from Miu. “Can one of you pass me a blanket?” She just barely managed to catch a blanket Kokichi carelessly threw at her face. “Thanks.”

Kokichi held a pillow to the window and reclined his head against it. “I need a shower after this. All this contact with Mi-chan’s belongings can’t be good for my health.”

“Fuck you too, you shitty twink,” Miu mumbled, though her words were slurred from fatigue.

Soon, the car was silent. The only signs of life were the rises of their chests and the occasional snore.

The world churned underneath them, and somewhere far away, morning began.

 

* * *

 

It was remarkably quiet when they entered the boundaries of their town. No music played, no one hummed. It was just approaching noon as they neared the car rental station.

The four stepped out of the car and allowed the mechanics to look over the car for any scratches or damages, but there were none. The only flaws were a few dirt stains on the gray paint of the car and the degradation of some part of the wheels. Somehow, parting with it felt like parting with an old friend they were destined to never see again.

Tsumugi’s eyebrows furrowed as Rantarou hauled their suitcases out of the car. “Are you okay, Tarou-kun? Do you need help?”

Rantarou shook his head, placing the last suitcase on the ground. “No, I’m fine. It’s too late anyway.” He brushed his hands off and straightened his back. “What are you guys gonna do when you get home?”

“Jack off,” Miu said, gripping the handlebar of her pink suitcase.

Kokichi’s nose wrinkled as he grabbed his own suitcase. “Ew, gross! We don’t need to hear about your dirty habits, Mi-chan.”

“He asked, I’m just telling the truth. You got a problem with that, bitch?”

“Guys, people are staring,” Tsumugi sighed.

True to her word, the various mechanics scattered around the shop and a few of their customers looked away as soon as Kokichi and Miu turned around. The room had previously been silenced, only returning to normal levels of talk when the two turned back around to Tsumugi and Rantarou.

Miu grinned and wrapped an arm around Tsumugi’s shoulder. “Aw, that’s fucking adorable. You really think we care that some bastards are staring at us? Get used to it, weeb.”

Tsumugi only sighed, seeming to understand the message. “I already am used to it.”

“What, you’ve got a problem with it?”

“No.” She looked around, catching a few of the glances other people shot them. “Not anymore, at least.” A pause. “Anyway, does everyone have a way to get home safely? I’m taking the bus, so if you have a few dollars, you can catch it with me.”

Rantarou nodded with his phone in his hand. “My mom’s picking me up with my sisters. I’m glad I’ll get to see them soon, but it feels a bit overwhelming.”

“Alright, homesick boy, we’ve got you,” Kokichi said, clapping him on the shoulder, though the position looked awkward with their height difference. “I’m just taking the subway.”

“And my house isn’t too far from here,” Miu said, “Unlike you bastards, I can just walk.”

Rantarou frowned. “Are you sure? I can always take you along with me. My family likes you enough for that.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I need the exercise anyway.”

Tsumugi picked up her handbag and unrolled her suitcase, Rantarou’s slow blinks going ignored. “I have to go if I want to catch the bus on time. I’ll see you all later.” She paused. “Actually, Kichi-kun, you should probably get going, too. The subway closes in an hour.”

“If you wanted someone to walk you to the bus station, you should’ve just said so,” Kokichi said, beaming. “No need to lie about it.”

“H-How did you know?”

“I do now.”

“This was a mistake.”

“If this was a mistake, then this was the best mistake I’ve ever made.” He grinned and held his hand out. “Well? Let’s go. See you later, Ran-chan! See you never, Mi-chan!”

Tsumugi took the hand as Rantarou waved and Miu shouted a less-than-formal farewell to them, drawing a few eyes from bystanders. The two exited the shop, and their figures faded from sight.

The remaining duo stayed in silence before Rantarou spoke up.

“Well, they’re gone. Do you feel like keeping me company?”

Miu turned to him and scoffed. “The great Miu Iruma has better things to be doing, but I suppose I can bless you with some of my time. What do you want to talk about, avocado bitch?”

“First of all, I have a name.”

“Yeah. Avocado.”

“That’s not—”

“You named yourself, dickface. You knew what you were getting into when you signed up for that messaging app.”

The two talked into the early hours of afternoon, not noticing that the shop had begun to empty out until a car honked right outside the shop. Then, they parted with a half-hearted farewell, knowing it wouldn’t be the last time they would see each other.

 

* * *

 

The first person to return home was Tsumugi, who walked into a silent house. She walked upstairs to her bedroom, the stairs creaking under every step and her suitcase being heavier than she expected, but she made it to her room without any problems. Her mother had given her permission to go on the trip, but there was no doubt she would return and scold her for leaving. 

The first object Tsumugi pulled out was the fabric map. She still had to complete the last few threads and frame it, but it was an almost completed representation of their trip nevertheless. 

Even if her mother would scream at her, there was nothing more refreshing than being out from under the thumb of a constant authority figure that never deserved her respect. The sheer giddiness electrifying her fingers as she ran her fingers over the red threat was proof of that.

The second object she unraveled was a souvenir from Arlington Beach she had bought on a whim. It wasn’t the smartest financial decision, but it was a reminder she had gone outside and done something with her life other than live in fiction. She didn’t know when she had gotten the guts to do so or if she was even capable of it, but here she was with the proof in her hands.

And finally, she reached into her suitcase and took out a flower she had plucked off the ground from the Pure Grove. It was brown and scrunched up by the time she had taken it out of its misery, but that wasn’t the important part.

What was important was proof that she had gone out and experienced the world for herself instead of living it through fiction. It was frightening to think she had the power to do so for herself; it was surreal as well. But was it unpleasant?

When Tsumugi’s eyes landed on her phone buzzing with a message from Kokichi announcing his return home, she smiled.

As scary as it was, it wasn’t in the slightest bit unpleasant.

 

* * *

The jubilant feelings that jumped when he was with his friends disappeared the second he stepped into an empty, dark house. Kokichi knew he should have been used to the silence by now, but it was strange to hear nothing after two weeks of constant noise, whether it be from his friends or the passing cars or other people around them. It was terrifying to see how much two weeks could change a person.

After setting his suitcase in his room and deciding he couldn’t stand the silence, he picked up his phone and sent a text to the group chat announcing his return home. A smile floated to his face upon seeing the quick responses. 

But he had to unpack. Kokichi unlocked his suitcase and took out the very first object he could reach, which happened to be a token from Happyscore Arcade.

The token was a golden coin with the name of the arcade and their tiger mascot inscribed into it. The coin shined under the lights of his bedroom as he turned it over in his hand, his fingers delicate against the cool metal.

The more he thought about it, the more the arcade’s atmosphere seemed lonely, like a shell of its former glory. If Rantarou wasn’t lying about the place being more active (and Kokichi doubted he would), it was like the ruins of a fallen empire. Its glory could only be imagined but never relived, and that was for the better.

After digging the rest of the tokens out of his suitcase, Kokichi took out a flyer he had snatched off a lamppost from Taesan during the Celebration of Joy. The flyer was written entirely in Korean and had a picture of a woman holding a cello as its main image. Even without bothering to read the writing, it appeared to be an advertisement for a woman offering cello lessons.

He had run into an old… something there, and he had visited the remnants of his memories scattered around the town but long destroyed. But in the end, did his past really matter when he had such a bright future to look forward to?

_ No, it didn’t,  _ Kokichi decided when his phone lit up with texts from the group chat of his friends. He picked it up and smiled.

Even when he was alone in a silent, empty house, he would never be lonely.

 

* * *

 

Rantarou returned home in a bubble of excitement, his sisters crowding around him while their mother watched from a distance. He sat at the foot of his bed while he unpacked his suitcase, holding out each souvenir and explaining its significance like he was a storyteller and they were his audience. It wasn’t too different from when he used to travel, but instead of feeling like a disappointment, it was invigorating, even happy.

He passed a printed photo of the fountain in Glossop Park around the circle. “This is from Glossop National Park just a few districts over. People throw their change into the fountain and make wishes, and the staff collects the change to maintain the park.”

“Do they ever come true?” one of his sisters asked.

He paused. There was undoubtedly a few wishes that came true, but the vast majority didn’t. That being said, he hadn’t tossed a coin in the fountain, but he would wager his wish came true. “I’m not sure. I haven’t tried it.”

They groaned at the ambiguous answer but returned the photo to him.

Rantarou rummaged through his suitcase and took out a pressed flower he had collected from the hiking trail. “Be careful, this flower is rare in this part of the country.”

His oldest sister took it from him, staring at the ridges and stems of the flower. “Do you know what the name of it is?”

“Not really. All I know is they were pretty common on the hiking trail it was from, but we never see it here.”

She smiled as she passed it to the next person. “You really like adventuring, don’t you?”

He blinked at the question but answered with a nod. “I do. I really do.”

Once the last person finished viewing the flower, Rantarou took out a familiar golden token. “Remember when Mom used to take us to Happyscore Arcade? I went back there with my friends just a day ago. Looks like they haven’t changed the tokens at all.” He passed it around the circle.

One of his younger sisters pouted as she flipped the token over in her hand. “Hey, Mom, why don’t you take us there anymore?”

Rantarou and his mother exchanged a quick, desperate glance. “Because… there’s another arcade being built somewhere near here that’s supposed to be better than that. It was supposed to be a surprise, but…”

“... Oh. Sorry.”

“No worries.” He bit back a sigh of relief. Hanging around Kokichi for too long made him better at lying than he thought it would have.

After an hour of sharing what he had brought back from his trip, his sisters dispersed throughout the house, leaving him alone in his room with his mother.

His mother set his suitcase on the floor, picking up and folding the clothes. “I can’t believe you’ve traveled around the world by the time you were in high school, but you graduated by the time you traveled around your own country.”

Rantarou gave her a soft laugh as he organized his belongings back into his drawers. “I guess you can’t help some things.”

“How was it? Is it different than when you were younger?”

He stopped to think. The only difference between his previous adventures and his most recent one was he had three other people by his side. He wasn’t navigating through the world alone, nor did he have lonely nights yearning for any form of human contact with a familiar person.

_ And that made all the difference, didn’t it?  _ he thought to himself.

So Rantarou looked up from his suitcase and answered, “It was very different.”

 

* * *

 

The final person to return home was Miu, who knocked on the door once before unlocking it and entering. She let out a sigh of relief upon finding the house dark and empty with no signs of life inside.

The steps creaked under her feet as she hauled her suitcase upstairs to her bedroom. She flopped on her bed, both knowing she needed to unpack but her legs aching from the long trip. The suitcase stared back at her through an open crack almost mockingly.

_ Fuck you, suitcase,  _ Miu thought as she climbed out of bed and kneeled down next to the suitcase. She popped it open, the first item in front of her being a tiny magnet from Westerwood Museum.

One side of the magnet was a dull gray. It felt smooth and cold in her hand as she rubbed her thumb against it. On the other side, the image of a woman standing next to a stack of books was painted with a variety of colors. Miu could vaguely recall a caption describing the books as lines of code the woman had written.

Miu stood up and stuck the magnet to the metal of her bulletin board. Suddenly, the room felt a little less lonely.

The second item she took out was a coin from the one time she tried using a slot machine at the casino. She had gotten lucky and got three icons lined up in a row, but it wasn’t worth as much. She turned it over in her hand, observing the way the light of her bedroom reflected against the shiny metal.

Why had she used the slot machine in the first place? There was no pressure from her three companions, nor was there pressure from the casino itself. It wasn't even influenced by her friends' stupid (but appreciated) attempts to get her to care for herself more. Did she do it just because she wanted to?

Because she wanted to. She gambled just because she felt like it. There were no outside people influencing her choices. This was her decision, and her decision alone.

Miu clutched the coin before dropping it on her work desk.

After taking out a pile of shirts she had brought along, she took out a seashell she had picked up from Arlington Beach. The shell was white with pink stripes running vertically down it. The edges were cracked, but the shell was otherwise in perfect condition.

Arlington Beach was far away from this town. She couldn’t recall the exact mileage, but it was far enough for her to feel safe away from home.

No, this wasn’t home. This was a house. 

She picked up her buzzing phone and stopped to curse everyone out for blowing up her phone.

That was her home, one that she had built by herself. It wasn’t as impressive as a house a professional architect could build, but she had made it on her own volition, and she’d be damned if anyone could take that away from her.

So she clicked on the call button and smiled when everyone picked up in a heartbeat.

 

* * *

 

Finding adventure within their hometown, even after traveling across the country, wasn’t too hard. Their park, while it couldn’t be compared to any of the sights they had seen over the past two weeks, was still a source of fun and recreation.

The sun beat down on the four seated at a blue picnic table. A fabric map was laid out on top of the table as well as a stack of paper and a pencil case full of pens.

“Tsu-san,” Rantarou began, “I really don’t think all of this is necessary. College is a few weeks away, and we only just came back from our road trip.”

Tsumugi sniffed and tilted her head up. “I don’t need to hear any planning tips from a normie like you. Besides, we only just came back, and Mi-san and Kichi-kun already trashed their suitcases.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault,” Kokichi said, holding a finger up in protest. “I would still have my suitcase if that dumb bitch across from me didn’t try to stuff it full of Doritos.”

“You fucking liar, it was Fritos, and you know it,” Miu hissed. “Don’t drag me into your stupid ass lies. Who the hell tries filling a suitcase full of Doritos?”

“You did  _ what? _ ” Tsumugi asked.

No one answered.

She sighed and cleared everything off to the side, leaving the map in full view. “Anyway, I just finished this yesterday. Are there any changes I need to make?”

“It’s completely wrong,” Kokichi said, “We went in the exact opposite direction. Thanks for wasting your time, Tsu-chan.”

“Anyone who doesn’t feel like lying to my face?”

Miu took a moment to laugh at Kokichi’s pout before shaking her head. “Nah, it looks good to me.”

Rantarou’s eyes burned into the fabric. “The boundaries of the country are a little bit off.”

Tsumugi’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? No, they’re not.”

“Yes, they are. The little tail on the right should be a bit bigger. There’s a lake there, you know.”

“... I may or may not have forgotten Crestfall Lake exists.”

Rantarou moved his stare to her.

“Don’t judge me. I can see the judgement in your eyes.”

“Tsu-san, I love you, but you’re the worst at geography.”

“You’re the worst at foreign language.”

“I’m not. I’m really not.”

“He’s right, you know,” Kokichi said. He pointed a thumb in Miu’s direction. “That dumb bitch is the worst at every subject. I don’t know how you missed her.”

Miu’s mouth fell open. “Are you fucking kidding me? I got a better grade than you in geography.”

“Are you seriously so pathetic you remember the one time you beat me in a subject?”

“So you admit it?”

“We’ll see when we go to college,” Rantarou said, cutting into their conversation. “I just wanted to ask all of you something.”

Miu frowned, her forehead creased. “What’s with the serious look, Cuntmami? Don’t tell me you’re actually gonna ask us something serious.”

“It’s not serious, it’s just important to me.”

“Well, spit it out then.”

Rantarou rested his chin on the palm of his hand, resting his elbow on the table. “Did you guys enjoy this little road trip? I know we took more detours than planned, but… I really liked it. I liked traveling with all of you, no matter how messed up our diet was at times.”

“Is that even a fucking question?” Miu said, “Being at home stresses me the fuck out. Besides, I could’ve just told you to turn around at any time. I made the choice to go along with you, and I’m sticking to it.”

Tsumugi bit her lip. “I think… I think I liked it. Being with everyone while we explored the world outside our hometown was fun. I mean, I made an entire map for it. I don’t think it’s possible I didn’t like it.”

Kokichi met the three gazes that jumped to him with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t get to see anyone get motion sickness, and Miu’s snores kept me up all night. The only good part of the road trip was all the Panta I got to drink.”

“But did you enjoy it?” Rantarou asked.

“... Yeah, sure. But maybe that’s a lie.”

“But that’s enough to me.” He straightened his back. “Hey, there’s an ice cream cart nearby. Who wants to get ice cream with me?”

Three hands shot up, and they all got up to purchase ice cream.

The time between high school graduation and the beginning of college was a shaky, uncertain time full of panic. It hadn’t dissipated when they had gone on the road trip, but even after being thrusted into an unknown world where anything could go wrong, they had made it out alive. They made it  _ together,  _ and there was nothing in the world that could take that away from them.

And for now, the sun shined on, and the world kept turning. 

It was a peaceful summer day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god im finished this. im done with this installment. i still cant really believe it  
> thank you all for sticking with me through this and being patient through my 23409 year unofficial hiatus. that really does mean a lot more than i can say.
> 
> handprint: inspired by some poor soul on reddit who woke up to a handprint on their window and booked it when they saw it
> 
> Feeding bacon to a pig: a conversation i had with one of my friends in freshman year of high school. apparently she saw an article about it and wanted to consult us about if it was possible or not which is like. ok.
> 
> gas station robbery: inspired by another poor soul on reddit.
> 
> poker: my brother taught me how to play poker. hes a bluffing bitch
> 
> here's some info about the next installment if youre curious:  
> 1\. it will absolutely be about their adventures in college. no doubt about it  
> 2\. new characters will be introduced. not all of them, but some of them. and with that comes some ships (lmao look at my profile and take a guess which ones) that may be unpopular with some people. i understand if you dont want to stick around for that.  
> 3\. in college, shit gets Intense.  
> 4\. i dont know how long it'll take to get it out since i dont have it prewritten, but i want to complete this series by the end of the year, and we still have another installment after that one. all i know is it sure wont take as long as this did smh
> 
> if you have any questions about this or the other installments but dont feel comfortable leaving it in the comments, yo girl got this: https://curiouscat.me/megastarstrike  
> thank you for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Sewing Needle Through Paper: maybe its just my sewing skills being subpar but also its the worst feeling in the word and every time i have to do it i make sure to point it very, _very_ far away from my eyes
> 
> chapters from now on will definitely be longer. this was just to set the scene ~~and reassure people i havent completely given up on this~~. i also realized just how much The Cheating Ring could be improved so this will attempt to fix the writing issues there. thanks for being patient and giving this a shot.


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